According to the U.S. Department of Education, the average tuition fee at four-year or above public universities in the United States is $6,397 for the 2009/2010 academic year.

The College Affordability and Transparency Lists, released by the department on June 30, rank U.S. college price tags for perspective students and their parents. One list named the public universities with the lowest tuition.

Haskell Indian Nations University has the lowest public university tuition at US$430. Dine College and University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus are right behind with US$805 and US$1,320 respectively.

These lists are part of an effort by the U.S. Department of Education to increase college cost transparency for students making decisions about higher education. Lists also include public colleges with the highest tuition, private colleges with highest and lowest tuition, and the highest and lowest net prices of public colleges.

The net price refers to the price of attendance for full-time students after grants and scholarships are taken into account. The U.S. national average net price is $10,747.

Following are the top 20 public universities in U.S. with lowest tuition.

Also see Top 20 priciest public universities in America