Strongest operating margins – public universities

These 50 public universities rank highest by operating margin, drawn from 1,126 institutions with reported data in the U.S. Department of Education data for FY2022-23 (IPEDS). New Mexico Junior College (Hobbs, NM) leads at 66.3%.

Institutions ranked by Operating margin.
#	Institution	Operating margin
1	New Mexico Junior CollegeNM	66.3%
2	Radford UniversityVA	53.8%
3	North Central Missouri CollegeMO	49.8%
4	California State Polytechnic University-HumboldtCA	43.9%
5	Texas Southern UniversityTX	43.4%
6	Lawson State Community CollegeAL	40.8%
7	Sierra CollegeCA	39.3%
8	Enterprise State Community CollegeAL	37.1%
9	Chemeketa Community CollegeOR	34.9%
10	Northern Marianas CollegeMP	33.9%
11	Mineral Area CollegeMO	32.4%
12	San Francisco State UniversityCA	32.3%
13	H Councill Trenholm State Community CollegeAL	32.2%
14	California State University-BakersfieldCA	32.1%
15	Bunker Hill Community CollegeMA	29.8%
16	Central Louisiana Technical Community CollegeLA	29.3%
17	Midland CollegeTX	29.2%
18	California State University-San BernardinoCA	29%
19	California State University-San MarcosCA	28%
20	Lamar State College-Port ArthurTX	26.3%
21	Trinidad State CollegeCO	25.4%
22	Gavilan CollegeCA	25.3%
23	Jackson State Community CollegeTN	25.2%
24	Eastern New Mexico University-Main CampusNM	25.1%
25	Carl Sandburg CollegeIL	24.8%
26	Central Arizona CollegeAZ	24.6%
27	Monroe County Community CollegeMI	24.6%
28	California State Polytechnic University-PomonaCA	24.2%
29	Santa Fe Community CollegeNM	24.2%
30	Rock Valley CollegeIL	24%
31	California State University-FullertonCA	24%
32	Niagara County Community CollegeNY	23.6%
33	Kansas City Kansas Community CollegeKS	23%
34	Black Hawk CollegeIL	22.8%
35	California State University-NorthridgeCA	22.8%
36	Lincoln Land Community CollegeIL	22.5%
37	Heartland Community CollegeIL	22.3%
38	Cochise County Community College DistrictAZ	22.2%
39	Tompkins Cortland Community CollegeNY	22.1%
40	Panola CollegeTX	22%
41	Butte CollegeCA	21.9%
42	Sonoma State UniversityCA	21.9%
43	Nashville State Community CollegeTN	21.8%
44	Pikes Peak State CollegeCO	21.7%
45	California State University-FresnoCA	21.6%
46	Columbia State Community CollegeTN	21.5%
47	Northwest Mississippi Community CollegeMS	21.5%
48	Three Rivers CollegeMO	21%
49	Southwestern Illinois CollegeIL	21%
50	Lamar State College-OrangeTX	20.9%

Limited to institutions with at least 1,000 undergraduates, so a handful of students cannot top the list. A data ranking, not an Ibex endorsement or quality rating. Ranked solely on the metric named above using U.S. Department of Education data for FY2022-23 (IPEDS). Federal collections lag the current academic year, and some measures are no longer published at all, so the most recent figure is not always a recent one. Institutions that do not report this metric are excluded. Figures and peer context appear on each institution’s profile.

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Frequently asked

Which of these public universities ranks highest by operating margin?

New Mexico Junior College (Hobbs, NM), at 66.3%. It leads 50 institutions shown here, drawn from 1,126 with reported data.

How is this ranking calculated?

On one disclosed metric only: by operating margin, from IPEDS, FY2022-23. Institutions that do not report the metric are excluded. It is a data ranking, not an Ibex endorsement, quality rating or reputation survey, and no part of it is estimated or AI-generated.

How current is the data?

This list is built from the College Scorecard release of June 10, 2026 and the newest IPEDS collections the tool uses, taking the most recent figure published for the metric it ranks: IPEDS, FY2022-23. Federal collections lag the current academic year by two to three years, so the newest published figure is not always a recent one. The release the leaderboard is dated on is printed under it.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard & IPEDS (each measure carries its own collection year; see the methodology), with NSF NCSES (HERD), the Clery Act & EADA collections, Census ACS, BLS Employment Projections, WICHE & the FSA Direct Loan Dashboard. Compiled by Ibex Insights. For informational benchmarking only, not financial, investment, or accreditation advice. See the methodology.