America's Most Expensive Colleges

Most Expensive Colleges for 2018-2019

Most Expensive Colleges for 2014-2015

With most of these schools surpassing the $60K per year mark in total cost, incoming students can expect to see a price tag of over a quarter-million dollars for their 4-year degree when expected yearly increases in tuition are taken into account. When you consider only about a third of students complete their degree within four years, you can see how students can really rack up student loan debt.

The list of the 100 most expensive colleges by total cost (tuition + room & board + required fees) are all private and range from $56,000 all the way up to $65,000 per year. This is a significant jump in price from the average private university cost of $42,419 and (obviously) the average cost of attending a public in-state college at $18,943.

While the majority of these colleges offer great financial aid packages to those with need, it’s important to note there are still students who are paying these exuberant prices. At Duke University (#44 on this list), for example, about 50% of its students are paying the fully listed price of $60,533.

If you needed your holiday dinner table discussion topic, here it is: The 100 Most Expensive Colleges for 2014-2015.

Top 100 Most Expensive Colleges by Total Cost

Data compiled by CampusGrotto.com

Notes:

Total Cost = Tuition + Room and Board + Required Fees

The fees included in the total cost only include fees that are required for all undergraduates. These fees typically include items like the Student Activity Fee, a Facilities Fee, and a Technology fee. You won't see any fees by major, orientation fees for incoming students, or medical insurance fees included in these costs. Many other fees can be optional and can vary per student and per major. A Student Health Insurance Fee, for example, is obviously not going to be required for a student already on their parents’ insurance plan. Some colleges have their yearly budget for students listed slightly higher than what you see here. This is because some colleges also add in the estimated costs for books and supplies, personal expenses, and transportation costs.

Tuition numbers were taken directly from each college's website in fall of 2014.

This list only takes into account colleges that offer bachelor's (BA) degrees at traditional 4-year undergraduate colleges, so you will not see any junior colleges or music conservatories on this list, or schools like Landmark College (costs over $60K) who offer students an Associate of Arts (AA) degree.

Most Expensive Colleges for 2012-2013

Our Most Expensive Colleges ranking for 2012-2013 featured a news story highlighting the fact that the price of college, for the first time ever, had eclipsed the $60K per year mark. When we broke the news, the story received notable press coverage from outlets such as CNBC, ABC News and affiliates, and CBS.

Read the full story at: A New Era: $60K per year Colleges

You can also view college cost data we have collected over the years:

• Top 100 Colleges by Highest Tuition
• Top 100 Colleges by Highest Total Cost

Most Expensive Colleges for 2011-2012

Welcome to the 5th annual ranking of most expensive colleges compiled by Campus Grotto. While the names on this list haven’t changed much over the years, the numbers sure have. When we first started ranking colleges by cost back in 2007, only one school (GWU) had a total cost of over $50K, now 111 do. Back then, not a single school had tuition over $40K, now 80 have passed that mark. There are now nineteen universities charging over $55,000 (just one last year), and that’s not even including the cost of textbooks.

Sarah Lawrence College is once again named the most expensive college by total cost for the 2011-2012 school year, marking the 4th year in a row the school has topped the ranking. Is it worth the money? Who knows, but the college does boast one of the lowest student-teacher ratios in the country and all students receive one-on-one weekly guidance from faculty.

Sarah Lawrence: Home of the nation's most expensive college.

It's important to note that these numbers are the ‘sticker prices’ for each institution for the 2011-2012 school year. Just because these schools have high tuition does not mean you will actually be paying that amount. Many schools will provide a financial aid package that meets 100% of a student's financial need (Cost of Attendance - Estimated Family Contribution). While going to college is still expensive, many of the colleges here offer great financial aid packages. To get a better idea of what you will actually be paying at each school, be sure to use the net price calculator that every college is required to have on their website starting October 29th (Thanks to the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008). Hopefully these calculators will give students (and their parents) a better idea of what they will actually be paying before applying.

Knowing colleges provide great financial aid packages, we hope to take these total cost numbers and apply the average grant each school gives to figure the typical out-of-pocket expense for these schools. The Department of Education recently 'ranked' a list of expensive schools by net price. While interesting, the tuition figures were a bit outdated as they were taken from the 2009-2010 school year. By us being able to provide the net price for the 2011-2012 school year, we will have this data out nearly two years ahead of the Dept. of Ed. Look for this in the coming weeks.

You will see all of the schools on this list are private colleges. Public schools are more affordable, but it should be noted they are rising in price faster than private schools. For the first time schools once considered affordable, like Cal Berkeley and UCLA, are nearly making the top 100 most expensive list with their nonresident tuition (listed at 115 and 120, respectively). (No wonder they are protesting over tuition increases.)

We start by taking a look at tuition.

Highest College Tuition 2011-2012

Here are the top 100 most expensive colleges by tuition for the 2011-2012 school year. There are now 80 colleges that charge over $40,000/year for tuition, nearly double the amount that did last year.

When required fees are added onto tuition, the rankings change slightly, mainly because some schools (Columbia, Penn, Harvard) have fees that total a couple thousand dollars.

Highest Tuition and Fees 2011-2012

Here are the top 100 most expensive colleges by tuition and required fees for the 2011-2012 school year.

Room and board is another cost that is often overlooked. Many colleges in the urban areas of New York, Boston, and the California coast have room and board expenses that run $13,000-$14,000 per year. Our favorite example is with NYU, who ranks 91st in tuition, but when factoring in room and board they become the 2nd most expensive college. Here we add the cost of a typical double room plus meal plan charged by each college to get the total cost to attend the college.

Colleges with the Highest Total Cost 2011-2012

Data compiled by CampusGrotto.com

Other Notable Colleges:

• While Harvard is 82nd in total cost, it ranks 146 in tuition.
• Princeton ranks 114th total cost and 125th in Tuition.
• UC Berkeley ranks 115th in total cost.
• UCLA ranks 120th in total cost.

Notes:
Total Cost = Tuition + Room and Board + Required Fees

The fees included in the total cost only include fees that are required for all undergraduates. These fees typically include items like the Student Activity Fee, a Facilities Fee, and a Technology fee. You won't see any fees by major, orientation fees for incoming students, or medical insurance fees included in these costs. Many other fees can be optional and can vary per student and per major. A Student Health Insurance Fee, for example, is obviously not going to be required for a student already on their parents’ insurance plan. Some colleges have their yearly budget for students listed slightly higher than what you see here. This is because some colleges also add in estimated costs of books, personal expenses, and transportation costs.

Tuition numbers were taken directly from each college's website during the last week of September of 2011.

This list only takes into account colleges that offer bachelor's (BA) degrees, so you will not see schools like Landmark College (costs over $55K) who only offer students an Associate of Arts (AA) degree.

Also See:
Most Expensive Dorms for 2011-2012.

Notable Press
The Washington Post
The Huffington Post
The Wall Street Journal
Fox News
National Review
Consumerist
Yale Daily News
ABC7 KABC-TV Los Angeles

Corrections:

• We originally announced there were twenty colleges charging over $55K. A $198 orientation fee was included in the total cost of Carnegie Mellon. Since this list only includes fees that are required of all undergraduates, we adjusted the total cost of CMU (which dropped them below the $55K mark). There are nineteen colleges charging over $55K for 2011-2012 when totaling tuition, room/board, and fees required of all undergrads.
• Harvey Mudd notified us that the published student body fee on their website was overstated by $270. The total cost for Harvey Mudd College is $55,998, not $56,268 as previously published. They are still the 4th most expensive.

Most Expensive Colleges for 2010-2011

This year saw many increases in tuition prices, some even drawing protests and near riots. There are many reasons for these increases, but it is mostly blamed on reduced state appropriations, higher health care costs, and increased utility costs.

The demand for college increases during a recession as those who can’t find work go back to school. Easy access to student aid further increases the demand for higher education, and the price sure shows it.

You will notice all the schools on this list are private. Public schools are more affordable but it should be noted they are climbing in price faster than private schools. Public 4-year in-state schools increased by 46.1% from 2000-2001 to 2009-2010, while private not-for-profit schools increased 30.8% over the same period.

Just looking at Tuition and Room & Board numbers, an additional 48 colleges passed the $50k mark this year, bringing the total to 82. As far as tuition, 43 colleges now charge over $40,000/year, compared to just 11 last year.

Taking the price of one of these institutions you can see that the cost of a 4-year degree is one fat sticker price. That sticker price will get even uglier when you consider tuition increases every year (unless you go to a school like GWU where tuition is locked in) and the fact that many students do not finish within 4 years.

Thankfully many of these colleges offer great aid packages.

It is important to note that just because these schools have high tuition does not mean you will actually be paying that amount. Many schools will provide a financial aid package that meets 100% of a student's financial need (Cost of Attendance - Estimated Family Contribution). Many of these colleges provide excellent financial aid packages, some even offering scholarships that cover most of the financial burden of attending the college.

In 2009-2010 full-time students at private not-for-profit 4-year colleges received an average of about $14,400 in grant aid, reducing the average net tuition and fees to about $11,900.

Knowing colleges provide great financial aid packages, we hope to take this list and apply grants to figure the average out-of-pocket expense for these schools (as soon as grant data is available).

Most Expensive Colleges 2010-2011

Here are the top 100 most expensive colleges by total cost of tuition + room/board for the 2010-2011 school year. Also included is the school's rank in last year's most expensive colleges list and the number of spots moved.

Cost = Tuition + Room and Board

Highest Tuition 2010-2011

Here are the top 100 most expensive colleges by tuition for the 2010-2011 school year. This year 43 colleges now charge over $40,000/year for tuition, compared to just 11 last year.

Data compiled by CampusGrotto.com

Other Notable Colleges:
Harvard placed as the 137th most expensive college tuition wise and 114th in total cost. Penn placed as the 113th most expensive college tuition wise and 110th in total cost.

Notes:
Cost is taken by adding tuition + room and board. We do not include fees when figuring the total cost. This is because many fees can be optional and can vary per student and per major. A Student Health Insurance Fee, for example, is obviously not going to be required for a student already on their parents’ insurance plan. Some colleges also charge fees to certain majors. Including fees in the 'Total Cost' would have led to too many 'What Ifs'. We take the price a typical freshman would pay for tuition, room and board.

These numbers were taken directly from the college's website in October of 2010. In the event that the University does not provide an estimated cost of room and board (because some dorms on campus are priced differently), we took the price of a dorm a typical freshman would find themselves in.

Some colleges like Bates College, Colby College, Middlebury College, and Union College have a comprehensive fee (tuition + room/board). Their tuition numbers were taken by taking their total comprehensive fee and subtracting by the amount of rebate the college gives to students who choose to live off campus.

Press Coverage:
Washington Post
The Huffington Post
CNBC
Burlington Free Press
Yale Daily News
Daily Herald (Brown University)
LAist
Wesleying
The GW Hatchet
Student Life (Washington University in St Louis)

Most Expensive Colleges for 2009-2010

For the second year in a row, Sarah Lawrence College is the most expensive college in the nation for the 2009-2010 school year, while NYU edges out The George Washington University to take 2nd in the ranking.

Most of the colleges in the ranking of expensive colleges are private liberal arts schools located in the Northeast. Even while tuition at private colleges rose 4.3 percent for 2009-2010, the smallest increase in 37 years, many colleges have approached the $50,000 per year mark.

It is important to note that just because these schools have high tuition, doesn’t mean you will actually be paying that amount. Many of these colleges provide excellent financial aid packages. A lot of these schools offer scholarships that often cover most of the financial burden of attending the college. For example, MIT is tuition-free for families earning less than $75,000 a year.

These are prices for one year of education at traditional 4-year undergraduate colleges.

Colleges with the Highest Total Cost 2009-2010

Total Cost = Tuition + Room/Board

Colleges with the Highest Tuition 2009-2010

Here are the top 100 most expensive colleges by tuition for the 2009-2010 school year.

Data compiled by CampusGrotto.com

Other Notable Colleges:
Harvard placed as the 139th most expensive college tuition wise and 112th in total cost.

Notes:
Total cost is taken by adding tuition + room and board. We do not include fees when figuring the total cost. This is because many fees can be optional and can vary per student. A Student Health Insurance Fee, for example, is obviously not going to be required for a student already on their parents’ insurance plan. Some colleges also charge fees to certain majors. Including fees in the 'Total Cost' would have led to too many 'What Ifs'.

These numbers were taken directly from the college's website in October of 2009. In the case that the University does not provide an estimated cost of room and board (because some dorms on campus are priced differently), we took the price of a dorm a typical freshman would find themselves in.

Some colleges like Bates College, Colby College, Middlebury College, and Union College have a comprehensive fee (tuition + room/board). Their tuition numbers were taken by taking their total comprehensive fee and subtracting by the amount of rebate the college gives to students who choose to live off campus.

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Most Expensive Colleges for 2008-2009

As expected, college tuition seems to go up just about every year now. Sure, part of the reason may be inflation, but still the increases in tuition seem to always outpace the rate of inflation.

You would think the weak economy would have an effect on tuition prices, and maybe it does. Perhaps alumni donors are unable to give as much as they have in the past. States are cutting their funding for higher education, which is huge considering most colleges get the majority of their funds from two sources: the State and tuition. One thing is for certain though, regardless of the state of our economy, the demand for higher education will always be there.

We are reaching a point where the cost of one year of college education at some colleges is surpassing $50,000. Unless your parents are loaded, you can expect to have a HUGE amount of college debt after graduation. Even those that graduated five years ago will not feel the pain that today’s students will feel after they graduate and have to start paying back on their student loans. It is almost as if the current state and price of today’s education is forcing many students to go to a local community college for two years and then move on to complete their degree at a 4-year in-state school. One would think that those that do choose to go on to a more expensive prestigious college and graduate should have no problem obtaining a decent paying job to pay the bills (and student loans). But, as a student with little money, it can be hard just knowing how much debt you are about to get yourself into. Even debts over $50,000 sound overwhelming. One thing is for sure: make sure you know how you are going to pay for college before you actually go.

Just because these schools have high tuition, doesn’t mean you will actually be paying that amount. Many of these colleges provide excellent financial aid packages. A lot of these schools offer scholarships that often cover most of the financial burden of attending the college. For example, Princeton University has always been known to offer its students some of the best financial aid packages, keeping its graduates debts at a relatively low level. Schools like Cooper Union, with a tuition of $33,000 per year, give every student a full tuition scholarship ensuring no student is responsible for tuition-related costs.

Most of the colleges on this list of expensive colleges are private liberal arts schools located in the northeast that boast low student-to-teacher ratios.

Highest Tuition 2008-2009

Of course, tuition is just one of the many costs associated with going to college. The other big expense is room and board. Some colleges also charge outrageous prices for student housing. The following list shows the most expensive colleges based on the total cost of tuition plus room and board.

Top 100 Colleges by Highest Total Cost 2008-2009

Here are the top 100 most expensive colleges by total cost for the 2008-2009 school year.

Total Cost = Tuition + Room and Board

Other Notable Colleges:
Harvard placed as the 118th most expensive college tuition wise and 108th in total cost.

Notes:

The criteria of figuring the total cost was taking the tuition plus room and board. We did not include fees.

We did not include fees because there are many fees that are optional or can vary per student. For example, some fees are specific to a certain major. Including fees would have led to too many What Ifs, therefore we excluded it.

Some colleges like Bates College, Colby College, Middlebury College, and Union College have a comprehensive fee (tuition + room/board). Their tuition numbers were taken by taking their total comprehensive fee and subtracting by the amount of rebate the college gives to students who choose to live off campus and go with their own housing and board options.

Most Expensive Colleges for 2007-2008

Tuition rates have been rising an average of 6% a year. This rate has been out pacing inflation at a much faster rate for decades.

Higher tuition puts more pressure on parents trying to finance their son or daughter's education, as well as with students, who are forced to pull out larger student loans. While student loans are considered "good debt" because of its investment, the price of college is still too high for most students.

Most people want to receive a quality education and many will pay what ever it takes to get the best. However, just because a college is the most expensive, doesn't necessarily make it one of the best colleges. In fact, some argue that some of the schools on this list of expensive colleges are just using their high cost as a marketing ploy, knowing there are people out there who want the best and believe they have to pay up to get it.

Some of these tuition fees are pretty outstanding, considering the median tuition at a four-year school is about $7,490.

The most expensive colleges are just about all in the northeast corner of the United States, being Ivy League type schools or fine liberal arts schools in the New York area that boast low student-teacher ratios. Of course, most of these expensive colleges are private, as tuition is usually twice as much at a private school.

These rankings are based on 2007-2008 tuition rates. Remember though, not all students are paying this much, as many of these schools have excellent financial aid packages.

Highest College Tuition

Of course this list does not take into context room and board. Where the college is located can be a huge price difference. Bigger, more populous cities demand higher rent and expenses.

So, taking that into context, here are the most expensive colleges based on tuition and room and board combined for one school year.

Highest Total Cost

Editor's note:

Data based on tuition data published on specific college websites as of September 10, 2007.

This list covers traditional 4-year colleges, therefore may not include some schools, such as Bard College at Simon's Rock since it is geared toward students who have completed the 10th or 11th grade, but have not received a high school diploma. A majority of students at Simon's Rock transfer to larger institutions after receiving an associate's degree after two years.

Other non-traditional schools include Landmark College which provides a liberal arts education to kids with learning disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Tuition at Landmark College is now listed at over $40,000.