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The 30 Most Expensive Colleges In the United States

It turns out, yes, you can put a price on knowledge.

Looking down the Dartmouth Green with trees beginning to show fall colors and a blue sky with puffy white clouds on a nice autumn day the Baker Library and its bell tower is in the background. - Image
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You've no doubt heard that, these days, college is really expensive. In fact, according to data put out by The College Board, the average cost of tuition—just tuition, not room and board or books or travel costs or living expenses or beer money or anything else—at private colleges clocked in at $34,600.


And that's just the average. If you look to the pricier colleges and universities in the country, that number can double—and we've got the math to prove it. Using data from The National Center For Education Statistics, we've cobbled together the definitive list of the 30 most expensive institutions of higher education in the United States. The kicker? If you're shilling out for one of the most expensive colleges in the country, you could easily drop a cool quarter million on a four-year degree. Read on and see for yourself.

30 | Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester

ROCHESTER, NY - MAY 2017: The University of Rochester, benefiting from industrial donors, has notable programs in technological subjects. - ImageShutterstock/Spiroview Inc.

Some of the world’s greatest musicians claim to be self-taught. Students at the Eastman School of Music at Rochester have a little more skin in the game. The school is named after George Eastman, the founder of Kodak.

Tuition and fees: $52,736

Room and board: $15,324

Total: $68,060

29 | Johns Hopkins University

View of buildings at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. - ImageShutterstock/Jon Bilous

If you’ve ever wondered about the name of this prestigious university, here’s the deal. Its founder—Johns Hopkins—was named after his great grandmother, Margaret Johns. When he died in 1873, Hopkins left a cool $7 million with which to found a university and hospital. In 2018, that fund, theoretically, would cover the full tuition, fees, room, and board of 102.8 undergraduates.

Tuition and fees: $52,670

Room and board: $15,410

Total: $68,080

28 | Vassar College

vassar college - ImageShutterstock/Jonathan Feinstein

On the eve of the final night of exams, at the stroke of midnight, hundreds of Vassar students gather on the quad to let out a primal victory scream. This mirrors the primal scream their parents’ let out four years earlier when they saw how much they’d be paying for their child to attend this New York liberal arts college.

Tuition and fees: $55,210

Room and board: $12,900

Total: $68,110

27 | New York University

NEW YORK CITY - SEPTEMBER 13, 2013: Street view of New York University NYU in Greenwich Village Manhattan. - ImageShutterstock/LittleNY Stock

NYU has the highest number of students that are non-U.S. citizens of any school in America: 19 percent of NYU’s Class of 2018 are non-U.S. citizens. But that’s not the extent of NYU’s internationalist bent. The school sends the most students abroad, too.

Tuition and fees: $50,464

Room and board: $17,664

Total: $68,128

26 | Franklin & Marshall College

Lancaster, PA, USA - June 25, 2018: The Franklin and Marshall College sign at the school campus in a Lancaster City. - ImageShutterstock/George Sheldon

Located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, this school was founded 1787 as simply Franklin College, named after Benjamin Franklin, the same year that the U.S. Constitution was written. The inventor, diplomat, editor, and founding father donated two hundred pounds at its founding...which would get you about a morning’s worth of classes at 2018 prices.

Tuition and fees: $54,580

Room and board: $13,580

Total: $68,160

25 | Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

A view of the great lawn at Olin CollegeWikimedia Commons/Michael Maloney

An astonishing 67 percent of Olin’s alumni report that they love their job. That’s just as well—if they paid the full sticker price of attending the school for four years, the total would be well over a quarter-million bucks. They should love every minute of their job.

Tuition and fees: $51,936

Room and board: $16,300

Total: $68,236

24 | Duke University

Ancient building in Duke University, North Carolina USA - ImageShutterstock

James Buchanan Duke founded Duke University in 1924 with the Duke family's tobacco-derived fortune. Nowadays, smoking is completely banned on the campus of the medical center. About half of the school's undergraduates receive financial aid to help pay for their education in Durham.

Tuition and fees: $53,500

Room and board: $14,798

Total: $68,298

23 | Georgetown University

The campus of Georgetown University located in Washington, DC on February 20, 2013. Georgetown University is a private research university founded in 1789. - ImageShutterstock/Katherine Welles

This school was founded in 1789, the same year that the U.S. Constitution became the supreme law of the land. One of its most famous alums, President Bill Clinton, paid his way through scholarships and part-time jobs. When he attended Georgetown in the mid-1960s, the annual tuition was around $1,500—or about $11,400 in 2018 dollars.

Tuition and fees: $52,300

Room and board: $16,068

Total: $68,368

22 | Tufts University

Autumn Colors at Tufts University - ImageShutterstock/Kevin D. Walsh

Jumbo the elephant was the largest elephant in captivity back in the nineteenth century. After being struck and killed by a train 1885, Jumbo was stuffed and donated to Tufts University. To this day, Tufts alumni are called jumbos. Also jumbo? The bill you’ll pay if you’re paying the full sticker price.

Tuition and fees: $54,318

Room and board: $14,054

Total: $68,372

21 | Fordham University

NEW YORK, NY -26 AUG 2018- View of the campus of Fordham University, a private Catholic Jesuit research university located in Manhattan, New York City. - ImageShutterstock/EQRoy

Founded in 1841 by the Catholic Diocese of New York, Fordham University is located in the Bronx in New York City. After financial aid, the cost to the average undergrad is $34,000, or around half of the price advertised.

Tuition and fees: $50,986

Room and board: $17,445

Total: $68,431

20 | Brandeis University

BOSTON, USA - DECEMBER 11: Brandeis University in Waltham, USA on December 11, 2016. - ImageShutterstock/WhiteJaguar

Named after Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, Brandeis University has the second highest Jewish student population of any college in the United States.

Tuition and fees: $53,537

Room and board: $14,906

Total: $68,443

19 | Pitzer College

Claremont, CA/USA: March 21, 2017 \u2013Entrance sign at Pitzer College one of the seven schools known collectively as the Claremont Colleges. The coed private college is 35 miles east of Los Angeles. - ImageShutterstock/Barbara Kalbfleisch

Founded in Claremont California in 1963, about 37 percent of Pitzer students receive financial assistance via loans, scholarships, work-study, and/or institutional grants.

Tuition and fees: $52,236

Room and board: $16,264

Total: $68,500

18 | Amherst College

Amherst College - ImageShutterstock/Mark Yarchoan

Amherst College has one U.S. president among its alumni. Calvin “Silent Cal” Coolidge attended in the 1890s when tuition wasn’t quite so steep.

Tuition and fees: $54,310

Room and board: $14,190

Total: $68,500

17 | University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA - Oct 1 , 2017 - University of Pennsylvania, Quadrangle (dormitory) from Spruce Street. - ImageShutterstock/Eileen_10

The first American college to be founded on strictly secular principles also happened to be established by Benjamin Franklin in 1740. Interestingly, Franklin did not attend college himself; his education was self-administered through reading. (That’s a tactic that can save you a lot of money these days!)

Tuition and fees: $53,534

Room and board: $15,066

Total: $68,600

16 | Haverford College

Founders Hall, the centerpiece of the Haverford College campus.Wikimedia Commons/JackBauerInvc

Quakers founded Haverford College back in 1833. Located outside Philadelphia, it’s known for its academic rigor, code of honor, and picturesque campus.

Tuition and fees: $52,754

Room and board: $15,958

Total: $68,712

15 | Northwestern University

Northwestern University campus - ImageShutterstock/Eugene Moerman

Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Meghan Markle (sorry, the Duchess of Sussex) are some of Northwestern’s notable alumni. The university was founded in 1851 by John Evans, for whom the city of Evanston, Illinois, is named.

Tuition and fees: $52,678

Room and board: $16,047

Total: $68,725

14 | Barnard College

NEW YORK, USA - DEC 8, 2017: Barnard College, private women's liberal arts college. Founded in 1889, it is one of oldest women's colleges in world - ImageShutterstock/Popova Valeriya

Barnard was founded in 1889 as one of the few colleges in the United States where women could receive the same education that was available to men. More than a third of students (37 percent) receive Barnard College grants; the average grant is $42,681.

Tuition and fees: $52,662

Room and board: $16,100

Total: $68,762

13 | Sarah Lawrence College

Siegel student center at Sarah Lawrence CollegeShutterstock/SaidieLou

Sarah Lawrence is a private liberal arts school located just north of New York City.  The college has many notable alums, including Vera Wang, Barbara Walters, Yoko Ono, and Jordan Peele.

Tuition and fees: $54,010

Room and board: $14,846

Total: $68,856

12 | Dartmouth College

Looking down the Dartmouth Green with trees beginning to show fall colors and a blue sky with puffy white clouds on a nice autumn day the Baker Library and its bell tower is in the background. - ImageShutterstock

Have you ever heard of Theodor Geisel? Well, when he was attending Dartmouth in the 1920s, he got busted for illegal drinking and had to change his name so that he could continue contributing to the college humor magazine. His pen name, Dr. Seuss, stuck. Further cementing Dartmouth's reputation as a party school, reportedly, it was the inspiration for National Lampoon’s Animal House.

Tuition and fees: $53,786

Room and board: $15,159

Total: $68,945

11 | Trinity College

Trinity College Chapel, at Trinity College, in Hartford, Connecticut - ImageShutterstock/Dashikin

Founded as Washington College, as an alternative to Yale, in 1823, Trinity is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut—and the most expensive.

Tuition and fees: $54,770

Room and board: $14,200

Total: $68,970

10 | Claremont McKenna College

Claremont, CA/USA: March 21, 2017 \u2013Entrance sign at Claremont McKenna College made of rock and limestone. The 69 acre campus of the coed private college is 35 miles east of Los Angeles. - ImageShutterstock/Barbara Kalbfleisch

Given the four-year sticker price of almost $280,000, it’s surprising to learn that the average debt Claremont McKenna students find themselves in at graduation is just $21,421. In part that's because the average need-based scholarship and grant award is a hefty $46,324 per year.

Tuition and fees: $52,825

Room and board: $16,220

Total: $69,045

9 | University of Southern California

LOS ANGELES, CA/USA - OCTOBER 4, 2014: Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA. Royce Hall is one of four original buildings on UCLA's Westwood campus. - ImageShutterstock/Ken Wolter

When USC first opened it was doors back in 1880, tuition was a mere $15 per term—but with that low, low fee came some strings attached. Students weren't allowed to leave town without the consent of the university president.

Tuition and fees: $54,323

Room and board: $14,885

Total: $69,208

8 | Scripps College

Claremont, CA, USA - April 17, 2017: The sign welcoming visitors to Scripps College which is one of the 5 Claremont Colleges and is a women only liberal arts college. - ImageShutterstock/Juli Hansen

Scripps College is one of four Claremont colleges that rank among the country's most expensive universities. It’s known for its historic campus and extensive core curriculum.

Tuition and fees: $52,966

Room and board: $16,294

Total: $69,260

7 | Oberlin College

Carnegie Building, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, USA. Architect Normand Patton, 1908.Shutterstock/Daderot

An interesting perk of being an Oberlin student is that you can rent original works of art from the renowned campus art museum for just $5 per semester. Students have works by Warhol, Picasso, and other well-known artists hanging in their dorm rooms.

Tuition and fees: $53,460

Room and board: $15,862

Total: $69,322

6 | Southern Methodist University

DALLAS, TX/USA - MAY 21, 2016: Joseph Wylie Fincher Building at Southern Methodist University. SMU is a private research university in Dallas, University Park, and Highland Park, Texas. - ImageShutterstock/Ken Wolter

Founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (hence the name), SMU's main campus is situated in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. Three-quarters of students benefit from scholarships and grants packages which range from $236 to $80,067.

Tuition and fees: $52,498

Room and board: $16,910

Total: $69,408

5 | Columbia University School of General Studies

NEW YORK, USA - OCTOBER, 2015: Columbia University Library buildings with columns and dome. - ImageShutterstock/Dmitrii Sakharov

This is but one of many pricey universities located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. The School of General Studies of Columbia University is entirely dedicated to students with nontraditional backgrounds who want a traditional education at an Ivy League university.

Tuition and fees: $55,478

Room and board: $13,950

Total: $69,428

4 | Bard College

Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA -May 24, 2015 On the campus of Bard College, a private liberal arts college in Dutchess County, NY. - ImageShutterstock/Nancy Kennedy

Located in Annandale-on-Hudson, a hamlet in upstate New York, the campus of Bard overlooks the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains.

Tuition and fees: $54,496

Room and board: $15,066

Total: $69,562

3 | University of Chicago

University of Chicago - ImageShutterstock/Spiroview Inc.

Economics is a serious business at the University of Chicago. There even exists a school of economic thought—the Chicago School of Economics—named after the university. The economics of attending the school for a year are simple, though: It's expensive. Really expensive.

Tuition and fees: $54,825

Room and board: $15,726

Total: $70,551

2 | Columbia University

NEW YORK, USA - JULY 13, 2016: life in Columbia University. Free book fair and open door day - you can take any books from volunteers. - ImageShutterstock/Valeri Iavtushenko

After the Catholic Church, the second largest landowner in New York City is Columbia University. Founded as King’s College in 1754, it's one of nine colonial colleges established before the Declaration of Independence. Originally located on Madison Avenue, King’s was moved to Morningside Heights in 1896, the same year it changed its name to Columbia.

Tuition and fees: $57,208

Room and board: $13,618

Total: $70,826

1 | Harvey Mudd College

Entrance to Harvey Mudd College on Dartmouth Avenue, F.W. Olin Building in backgroundWikimedia Commons/Imagine

The most expensive school in the country is Harvey Mudd Collage, another of the so-called 7Cs in Claremont, California. Named after Harvey Seely Mudd, one of the initial investors in the Cyprus Mines Corporation, the college has been the most expensive university in the country for three years running. Around 70 percent of first-year students receive financial aid to ease the sticker price of the nearly $290k cost of a four-year occupation.

Tuition and fees: $54,886

Room and board: $17,592

Total: $72,478

And if the price of admission makes you reel, then you'll get a serious kick out of these 20 Facts That Will Make You So Happy You're Not a Teen Right Now.

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