Verified Federal Data · No Paid Rankings
Best Colleges in Montana
Top Montana colleges ranked by what actually matters after graduation: earnings, completion rates, and what you actually pay. Federal data. No surveys, no sponsorships.
How We Rank Montana Colleges
Rankings use a composite score from verified federal data: graduate earnings (28%), graduation rate (25%), social mobility via Pell Grant share (20%), debt burden (15%), and net cost for low-income students (12%). Only 4-year non-profit schools with sufficient data qualify.
- →Earnings: Median annual earnings 10 years after enrollment. Source: College Scorecard.
- →Graduation rate: Full-time first-time students completing within 150% of normal time. Source: IPEDS.
- →Net price: Average annual cost after all grants and scholarships. Source: IPEDS.
- →Social mobility: Share of students receiving Pell Grants — a direct measure of access for low-income students. Source: IPEDS.
- →Debt burden: Median federal loan debt at graduation. Source: College Scorecard.
Top 10 Colleges in Montana (2026)
Ranked by composite: earnings, graduation rate, social mobility, debt, affordability.
| # | School | Earnings (10yr) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salish Kootenai College Pablo, MT | $32,725 |
| 2 |  Montana Technological University Butte, MT | $54,329 |
| 3 | Montana State University-Northern Havre, MT | $49,505 |
| 4 |  The University of Montana-Western Dillon, MT | $43,229 |
| 5 |  Carroll College Helena, MT | $61,772 |
| 6 | University of Providence Great Falls, MT | $48,296 |
| 7 |  Montana State University Billings Billings, MT | $44,296 |
| 8 |  Montana State University Bozeman, MT | $53,263 |
| 9 | The University of Montana Missoula, MT | $44,511 |
| 10 | Rocky Mountain College Billings, MT | $49,036 |
10 Montana schools in dataset. Top 10 shown. Data: IPEDS + College Scorecard. Updated annually.
All 10 Colleges in the Dataset
The ranking above shows the top 10 by composite score. Every school in the full dataset is listed here so you can explore beyond the top results.
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