Cheapest Online IT Degrees in 2027

The cheapest online IT degree is the program with the lowest total published tuition, found by multiplying the online rate by the number of credits required. The lowest total on this page is $30,480, the median is $59,280, and the top of the range is $229,800. The ranking currently starts with South Texas College, then University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies Online and Columbia Southern University. Program cards show the rate, credits and total for each.

How the Cheapest Online IT Degrees Are Ranked

Every program is ranked on one number: total published tuition. That is the online per-credit rate multiplied by the credits the degree requires. The rate alone can mislead. American National University charges $302 a credit but its degree runs 180 credits, for $54,360 in all, while University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies Online charges $345 a credit across 90 credits, for $31,050.

The spread is the first thing to understand. Total tuition across the 35 ranked programs runs from $30,480 to $229,800 with a median of $59,280. The most expensive degree on the page costs several times what the cheapest one does, and both are bachelor’s degrees at institutionally accredited schools. The table below breaks the rates out by school type.

Public, Private and For-Profit Rates Compared

The table prices everything per credit as each school publishes it. Public schools appear twice because some charge residents a lower rate than everyone else.

The medians sit close together. What separates the sectors is the top of each range. The private nonprofit high is $1,915 a credit, the for-profit high is $558, and the public high is $758. If you stay near the median in any sector, you land in the same price band. The two highest rates, at New York University and DePaul University, are both private nonprofits.

Semester Credits Versus Quarter Credits

Some schools run on quarters, and a quarter credit is worth two-thirds of a semester credit. That is why Eastern Oregon University lists 180 quarter credits, which is the quarter-system equivalent of a 120-credit bachelor’s, for its Information Technology Management degree while most programs list 120. Total tuition handles this for you, because it multiplies the rate by whichever credit count the school uses. The per-credit rate on a quarter-system school will look low for the same reason.

The list covers 35 programs across 22 states: 14 at public schools, 14 at private nonprofits and 7 at for-profit schools. The methodology page explains how each program is added and checked, and the numbers on this page were last checked in October 2026.

Flat-Rate Pricing on the Cheapest Online IT Degrees

Not every school bills by the credit. 3 programs charge a flat rate per term or per course: 2 bill per term and 1 bills per course. They sit apart from the main ranking because a flat rate is not a total until you know how many terms you will take.

Per-Term Pricing at Western Governors and South College

Western Governors University publishes $3,925 per 6-month term for its Cloud and Network Engineering degree. The page lists a general track and AWS, Azure and Cisco tracks, and the page does not list a different price for each. South College charges $4,175 per quarter (10-20 credit hours) for its IT bachelor’s. The school explains that tuition rates are tiered by credits per quarter, and that “students who take a high number of credits per quarter may be able to complete their program at a lower total cost than students who take fewer credits per quarter.”

That sentence is the whole logic of flat pricing. You pay for the term whether you take the minimum or the maximum number of courses. A student who clears more courses each term finishes in fewer terms and pays less overall. A student who takes one course at a time pays the same flat rate for less progress, and the degree can end up costing more than a per-credit program.

Per-Course Pricing at Phoenix

University of Phoenix-Arizona prices by the course, and its page measures time savings against a 5-week course. Per-course billing sits between the two models. You can estimate the total by multiplying the course price by the number of courses, but the number of courses depends on how much transfer credit the school accepts.

How to Estimate a Flat-Rate Total

Write down the credits you still need after transfer. Divide by the number of credits you can take in one term while working. That gives you terms, and terms times the flat rate gives you tuition. Then run the same sum at a slower pace. If the slow estimate is more than the per-credit total of a program on the main list, the flat-rate program is only cheaper if you can hold the faster pace.

Flat pricing rewards people who have time, prior credit or both. If you work full-time and expect to take one course at a time, the per-credit programs ranked above are easier to predict, and you can read your total straight from the program card.

In-State Pricing for Cheap Online IT Degrees

Some public schools charge residents one online rate and everyone else another. 6 of the 14 public programs on this page split their online rate by residency, and 8 charge every online student the same. The ranking uses the rate any US online student pays, which keeps the order true for readers in all fifty states and not only the residents of one.

How Big the Resident Discount Is

The in-state rate for public programs runs from $138 to $551 a credit with a median of $345. The rate any student pays runs from $254 to $758 with a median of $500. The clearest example is the number one program. South Texas College lists $254 a credit for any online student and $164 for Texas residents. Over 120 credits that is a real gap, and the resident figure moves the degree even further below every private option.

The catch is that the in-state discount may not be open to you, because each school sets its own residency rules. If you live in the state, read the school’s tuition page for the resident rate. If you don’t, the ranked total is the figure to plan around.

Public Does Not Always Mean Cheap

A public school can be one of the most expensive options on the list. North Carolina Central University is a public university, and its $728 rate puts the total well above the median total for this page. Public status helps most when the school is in your state or when it charges every online student one rate, as Colorado State University Global does at $385 a credit for its online IT bachelor’s.

Western Kentucky University shows the other side: at $551 a credit it costs more than the private for-profit median, and public status does not change that. Check this on every public school you consider. An online rate can differ from the campus rate for the same degree, and the online page is the one that counts.

Questions to Ask the Bursar

Before you rely on a resident rate, ask three things. Is the online rate the same as the campus rate, or does the school set a separate online price? How does the school define residency, and does it require a waiting period or documents? And is the rate locked when you enroll, or does it rise each year? The answers decide whether the number on the card is the number on your bill. The state pages show which public schools offer online IT degrees where you live.

Fees and Financial Aid for the Cheapest Online IT Degrees

Every total on this page is published tuition and nothing else. Fees come on top. Among the ranked programs, 19 list one or more fees beyond tuition, and those lists are a useful guide to what to ask the rest.

Fees Schools Publish

University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies Online lists these charges: Academic Services Fee $50/semester; Registration Fee $50/semester; CAPS fee $13/semester (undergraduate). They repeat every semester, so they add up over a degree that runs for years. Champlain College lists a $150 one-time graduation fee. Columbia Southern University lists a per-course fee. A school with a low rate and large fees can cost more than a school with a higher rate and none, so compare the cost of attendance page when two programs are close. A fee listed per semester, such as the ones above, repeats for every semester you enroll.

Also ask whether your rate is locked when you enroll. Schools differ on this, and a rate that rises during your degree costs more than the total shown here.

Federal Aid

Fill out the FAFSA at studentaid.gov before you compare net prices. Federal aid covers Pell Grants, which are generally not repaid, and federal student loans, which are. Eligibility depends on your finances and on the school’s cost of attendance, so a lower-cost school can mean a smaller aid award as well as a smaller bill. Take the grant first and borrow only what remains.

Military Benefits

If you have served, the GI Bill is worth checking. The VA says that if you qualify for the maximum benefit, “we’ll cover the full cost of public, in-state tuition and fees.” The VA also pays a housing allowance to students enrolled more than half time and a books stipend, and the details are on the VA’s GI Bill education page. That wording describes public, in-state tuition, so check which rate applies to you.

Employer Tuition Assistance

Some employers pay part of the tuition for staff who study. Before enrolling, confirm with your benefits office whether payment goes to the school directly or comes back to you after each course, and what grade you must earn.

How Long the Cheapest Online IT Degrees Take

A standard bachelor’s runs 120 credits. A full-time student at fifteen credits a semester finishes in eight semesters, which is four years. A part-time student at six credits a semester needs about ten years, and that is why working adults lean on transfer credit and short terms.

Course Terms of Eight Weeks or Less

Short terms let you finish more courses per year without taking more at once. 12 of the 14 ranked programs that publish their course length use terms of eight weeks or less, and 4 use terms of five weeks or less. University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies Online uses eight-week terms and pitches them as a way to move toward your goals faster. Colorado State University Global runs eight-week courses that it describes as online, asynchronous and fully flexible.

Longer terms exist too. Champlain College publishes seven-week terms and estimates a little over two years when you take two classes per term, though it also notes that some courses are offered in longer terms only. King University mixes five-week courses with longer ones in its cybersecurity and cloud computing degree.

Starts Through the Year

Start dates matter as much as term length. 3 of the 11 programs that publish start dates admit students every month, which shortens the wait to begin. Colorado State University Global starts students every month, and Liberty University publishes several start dates between now and early 2027 on its IT program page.

Self-Paced Programs

Some programs say you set the speed. Capella University points to FlexPath self-paced learning, and Excelsior University starts courses every eight weeks and delivers them asynchronously. Self-paced does not mean easy. It means you carry the schedule, and stopping halfway leaves you with tuition paid and no degree.

A Realistic Timeline with Transfer Credit

The median transfer allowance on this page is 90 credits, which leaves roughly a quarter of a 120-credit degree to complete at the school. A full-time student can finish that in about a year, and someone studying part-time takes longer. Without transfer credit the same student needs the full four years at a full-time pace. Programs also set a residency minimum, so even the largest allowance never reaches the entire degree. Ask for the number of credits that must be earned at the school before you count on a timeline.

Transfer Credit on the Cheapest Online IT Degrees

Transfer credit can cut the bill, because a course you transfer in is a course you never pay for. 11 ranked programs publish a maximum transfer allowance. It runs from 60 to 94 credits with a median of 90. A student who arrives with an associate degree and a program at the median allowance could owe tuition on only a fraction of the degree.

Associate-to-Bachelor’s Pathways

One route is a community college followed by an online bachelor’s. South Texas College requires a block of technical specialty coursework from an approved Associate of Applied Science degree for its applied technology bachelor’s. Franklin University accepts up to 94 semester hours from a community college and applies credits from its own associate degree directly to the bachelor’s. The online IT associate degree ranking shows the first half of this path.

Credit for Industry Certifications

7 ranked programs award credit for industry certifications: Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, King University, Colorado State University Global, Abilene Christian University-Undergraduate Online, Franklin University, Excelsior University and Purdue University Global. Saint Mary's University of Minnesota says you can turn CompTIA and Cisco certifications into bachelor’s credit. King University weighs industry certifications using American Council on Education credit recommendations, and it caps how much certification credit counts. Franklin University accepts Network+ and CCNA for networking coursework. Abilene Christian University-Undergraduate Online awards credit hours for CompTIA, Cisco or project management credentials.

The CompTIA A+ guide and the CCNA guide show what those exams cover. If you already hold a certification one of these schools accepts, ask how much credit it carries.

Prior Learning and Its Limits

Several schools also assess prior learning, including work experience and military training. Lindenwood University says it will accept up to 90 credits toward the degree, and University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies Online caps transfers at 60 credits for a shortened program. Two cautions apply. Credits only help if the school accepts them, so get the evaluation in writing before you pay a deposit. And a short degree has a cost of its own: the UNH page notes that some graduate programs, professional schools and employers may require a traditional 120-credit bachelor’s.

Accreditation Standards for a Cheap Online IT Degree

A cheap degree is only worth its price if the credential is recognized. All 35 ranked programs are at institutionally accredited schools, and that is the minimum the page enforces. Without it, credits may not transfer, federal aid may not apply, and some employers and graduate schools will not count the degree.

Institutional Accreditation

The accreditors on this list are regional bodies. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges accredits 12 of the ranked programs, Higher Learning Commission accredits 12, and New England Commission on Higher Education accredits 3. The rest are spread across other recognized accreditors. To check any school yourself, search it in the database of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and confirm the accreditor is recognized.

Programmatic Accreditation: ABET

ABET accredits individual computing programs, and it is the signal that an outside group reviewed the curriculum. 5 ranked programs hold ABET accreditation. Excelsior University says its degree is “Accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET”. Nationally, ABET lists 65 accredited information technology programs, of which 19 are fully online. You can confirm any program in the ABET database. The ABET-accredited ranking lists the full set.

Cybersecurity Designation: CAE-CD

16 ranked programs are at schools designated as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, a status sponsored by the NSA. Of these, 4 also hold ABET accreditation. A school can hold the designation for the whole institution or for one program only, so check the map at maps.caecommunity.org before you assume a given IT program is covered. The CAE-CD ranking has the school list.

Why It Matters to Employers and Graduate Schools

Accreditation is the first thing to check, because credit transfer, federal aid and recognition of the degree can depend on it. ABET and CAE-CD add further signals, since each reflects review by an outside body. For a school’s credits to move to another college later, the accreditor on both sides generally has to be recognized.

How to Verify a School in Minutes

Search the school in the CHEA database, find the accreditor and confirm it appears there. Open the ABET database and search the school name if you want programmatic accreditation. Open the CAE map for the cyber designation. Each lookup takes a minute, and none of them depend on what the school says about itself.

Accreditation is cheap to verify and expensive to get wrong. Spend ten minutes on it before you spend four years.

What a Cheap Online IT Degree Teaches

A low price does not mean a thin curriculum, and the published course lists show what you actually pay for. Many of these degrees list programming, networking, databases and security courses, and they differ in how much of each.

Sample Course Sequences

Champlain College lists Networking Fundamentals, Introduction to Python, Relational Database Design and SQL, Cloud Computing Architecture and Solutions, and Foundations of Cybersecurity, and it also lists a Senior Seminar Project and a Technical Internship. In the online IT bachelor’s at University of Massachusetts-Lowell, courses include Shell Scripting, Introduction to Cloud Computing, Systems Analysis and Design, Introduction to Networking and Principles of Information Security. University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies Online lists Programming Fundamentals, Foundations of Cybersecurity, Introduction to Data Analytics and Python Programming I.

South Texas College includes Fundamentals of Python and Machine Learning and Advanced Network Security, and the degree includes a capstone internship. Lindenwood University builds its application development emphasis from Secure Software Development, Agile Software Development, Mobile Applications Programming and an Information Technology Capstone.

Specializations and Electives

Many programs let you steer the degree. Liberty University offers Application and Database Development, Data Networking and Security, Gaming Design, and Web and Mobile Programming. Colorado State University Global lets you specialize in cybersecurity, virtualization and cloud computing, or web application development. Eastern Oregon University pairs computer science courses in C++ programming, database management and information security with a business core. Pick the specialization that matches a job posting you have actually read, because the electives are where one graduate differs from another.

Delivery and Labs

Format matters for a working student. 6 of the ranked programs are fully asynchronous, 1 is mixed, and 1 is fully live, among the 8 that state their format. Asynchronous means there are no scheduled class meetings. Bellevue University describes its online IT bachelor’s as weekly modules in place of scheduled class meetings. Bellevue University also lists a Cisco Routing Fundamentals course.

How IT Differs From Related Degrees

An IT degree trains you to run and secure systems that already exist. A computer science degree trains you to build new software and leans on math. The online cybersecurity degree ranking covers the version that narrows to security, and the split with computer science is laid out in the IT versus computer science guide. Management information systems sits between IT and business.

Pay and Payback for the Cheapest Online IT Degrees

Cost only means something next to pay. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports in its May 2025 OEWS survey that network and computer systems administrators, a single BLS code that covers both job titles, earn a median of $99,130. Information security analysts earn $129,180, and BLS lists the typical entry education for that role as a bachelor's degree. Computer user support specialists, the help desk jobs, earn a median of $61,860, with the lowest-paid tenth earning $40,980 or less.

Projections Differ by Role

Growth is not even. BLS projects employment for 2025-35 to change by -3.5% for computer user support specialists and -4.1% for network and computer systems administrators, while information security analysts are projected to grow 21%. Openings stay large even where employment shrinks, because workers retire and change jobs. Pick a role before you pick a program. The help desk technician and information security analyst pages cover the day-to-day.

Entry Roles and Openings

Help desk and support work is one entry point. BLS counts 39,700 annual openings for computer user support specialists and 13,400 for network and computer systems administrators, so entry points exist even where the projection is negative. Security analysis is smaller, at 14,100 openings. A CompTIA Network+ certification pairs with the administrator track, and the network administrator career guide lays out the steps.

Payback on a Cheap Degree

A degree that costs $30,480 and one that costs $229,800 are measured against the same wages. At the median administrator wage, the lowest ranked total is a fraction of one year of that pay, and the highest is more than two years of it. The is an IT degree worth it article walks through the full payback math.

When the Cheapest Is Not the Best

Cheap and best are different questions. The ranking of best online IT bachelor’s degrees scores graduation rate, earnings after completion, total tuition and accreditation, and its order differs from this one. If you can afford more, a better-ranked program may be the better buy, especially if it holds ABET accreditation. For a graduate degree, the affordable online IT master’s ranking uses the same total-tuition rule.

How to Choose the Cheapest Online IT Degree

Put your top three programs side by side and work through this checklist. Each item names a program that shows the point.

Check Whether It Is Fully Online

Confirm that no campus visit is required. Eastern Oregon University states that its IT management degree has no on-campus requirements. Dakota State University offers its cyber and network security degree fully online or on campus, so confirm that the online version is the one priced.

Compare Total Cost, Not the Rate

Use the total on the card, then add the fees. University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies Online adds recurring semester fees to a $31,050 tuition total, while Columbia Southern University lists $33,360. Fees like these can reorder two programs that sit close together on price.

Read the Transfer Policy

Ask for a credit evaluation before you apply. A school that accepts a large share of your credits can save more than a rate difference does. Ask what happens to credits older than a set number of years.

Look for Embedded Certifications

10 ranked programs name certifications in their curricula. Saint Mary's University of Minnesota says its coursework prepares you to pursue Security+ or Network+, and Western Governors University lists CompTIA and Cisco certifications among its offerings. If you plan to sit the exams, ask whether a program builds them in or only covers the topics.

Compare Start Dates and Pace

If you need to begin soon, filter for monthly starts. Then check term length: shorter terms let you move faster, longer terms are easier to fit around a job.

Look for Free or Low-Cost General Education

General education courses are a large share of a bachelor’s, and some schools shrink that cost. Capella University says students can take no-cost general education courses through its affiliate, Sophia Learning, and it offers a FlexPath option aimed at finishing a degree you started. Ask any school you consider whether it offers something similar.

Confirm Accreditation

Finish with the accreditor check from the section above. A low price on an unaccredited degree is not a bargain.

The programs by state pages show what each state offers.

Cheapest Online IT Degrees by State

The ranked programs sit in 22 states. Florida and Virginia have the most, 3 and 3. One of Florida’s is public: Florida International University, whose in-state online rate is $236 a credit, so Florida residents get a discount there that out-of-state students don’t. None of Virginia’s are at a public school, so no in-state discount applies. See the Florida and Virginia online IT degree pages for the full lists.

States with the Most Cheap Programs

California and Colorado each have 2 ranked programs and one public option. California’s public option lists an in-state online rate of $500 a credit, and Colorado’s lists $385. Colorado’s public option is Colorado State University Global, which already charges every online student the same rate, so the figure holds for readers in any state. California’s is University of Massachusetts Global, a public school that lists $500 a credit for its online IT bachelor’s. Residents of either state should check the California and Colorado pages first, and readers elsewhere can use them to compare a public rate against a private one.

Indiana has 2 listings, both public and both at Purdue University Global, which makes it the one state in the top five where every ranked option is public. The Indiana page has the detail.

Texas and Virginia

The cheapest program on the list is in Texas, where South Texas College is public. The Texas page shows the other programs in that state. Virginia’s three listings, including Liberty University and University of Management and Technology, are all private, so the in-state discount does not apply and the choice comes down to the rate, the transfer policy and the format.

What the Count Means

A high count does not mean the cheapest options. The ranking order is set by total tuition, and a state with one very cheap public school beats a state with three expensive private ones. Online degrees can be taken from anywhere, so the state matters mainly for the resident discount and for any in-person requirement a program sets. Start in your own state, then widen the search using the full list of online IT degrees by state.