5 Indiana Colleges You Might Not Have Considered

With college tuition costing more than it ever has before, staying close to home for college is becoming a smarter option, especially with the huge in-state tuition discount at public schools. Systems that rank colleges based on the bang you get for your buck are making it easier to find a quality school for less money. Here are five Indiana colleges that made it on the Forbes top 650:

1. Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana

Forbes Rank: #195 out of 650

Sector: Public, 4-year or above

Tuition: $9,900 in-state, $28,702 out-of-state

Students enrolled: About 40,000

Purdue is a large university where you might not have as much student-professor interaction as you would have at a smaller private school, but a bigger school means more resources and more options. Plus, with an in-state price tag that's three times lower than out-of-state, it's hard to argue that it isn't an amazing value.

2. Taylor University in Upland, Indiana

Forbes Rank: #238 out of 650

Sector: Private, 4-year or above

Tuition: $28,088

Students enrolled: About 2,500

Taylor is a private school, and therefore doesn't have discounted tuition for in-state students, but the cost is a couple of thousand dollars cheaper than comparable schools, with the added bonus of significantly smaller class sizes. A student-produced documentary titled Of Another Time was recently granted a regional student Emmy Award.

3. University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana

Forbes Rank: #318 out of 650

Sector: Private, 4-year or above

Tuition: $30,556

Students enrolled: About 3,000

The University of Evansville is in the middle of the range in terms of cost, class size, and quality, but the cozy one-block campus makes all your classes only five minutes away tops and facilitates close contact with faculty. And if you feel like spreading out, you can spend a semester at the British campus, Harlaxton College, in Grantham, England.

4. Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana

Forbes Rank: #388 out of 650

Sector: Private, 4-year or above

Tuition: $26,900

Students enrolled: About 1,000

A student-to-faculty ratio of only 10:1 means lots and lots of individual attention at Goshen, and the price tag is several thousand dollars lower than comparable private universities. The student-run radio station, The Globe, was named the best college radio station in the nation by the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System in 2011 and 2013.

5.  Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana

Forbes Rank: #558 out of 650

Sector: Public, 4-year or above

Tuition: $8,980 in-state, $23,650 out-of-state

Students enrolled: About 20,000

You might get somewhat lost in the crowd at Ball State since it has the highest class sizes on the list, but that doesn't mean this university won't enable you to be amazing. With alumni like David Letterman and Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts, they're clearly doing something right, and for the right price at less than $9,000 in-state.