The Most Expensive U.S. Colleges: SEE The 10 Biggest Tuition Bills

This fall, as unemployment surged and the economy continued to hurt, students at both public and private colleges across the country saw a significant increase in the cost of their education. And tuition at the priciest schools in America is simply staggering.

Campusgrotto.com compiled a list of the 100 colleges with the highest price tags (hat tip to Consumerist). (Note: The ranking adds the advertised cost of tuition with room and board, and doesn't take into account how much the average student at each school actually pays after financial aid.) Sarah Lawrence College, a tiny liberal arts school, tops the list.

Here are the top ten:

1. Sarah Lawrence College -- $54,410
2. New York University -- $51,991
3. The George Washington University -- $51,730
4. Bates College -- $51,300
5. Skidmore College -- $51,196
6. Johns Hopkins University -- $51,190
7. Georgetown University -- $51,122
8. Connecticut College -- $51,115
9. Harvey Mudd College -- $51,037
10. Vassar College -- $50,875

To see the full list, go to CampusGrotto.

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Comments

[zeeshan809]

In these testing times, even some of the rich are thinking twice before spending their money.

[Chlowina]

Son went to a liberal arts college in upstate NY in 1998 and scholarship was minimal.

While standing in line to set up a checking account for him with our last $300.00, we overheard a young girl wondering if the $20,000.00 she had was going to get her thru the year. Yep, you guessed it. A free ride to a foreign student and my kid is in debt up to his ears. And now attends JHU. Back in 1998, it was $35,000/year. Going to bet he'll be paying for his education until the day he dies.

[zugzwang]

The college I attended on this list now costs more per year than my last annual teaching salary, and I completed two additional MA's. I'm guessing tomorrow's teachers won't be getting liberal arts educations at these schools, and I think that's unfortunate.

[DoctorZdiet]

With the disclaimer that "personal experience may vary," I went to a state university for undergraduate school and found that by seeking out honors courses I was with the best professors (yes, classes taught by real professors) and most motivated and interesting students I could hope to find. It may take a little more self-motivation to find this experience at a huge state school, but it is there and a great bargain!

[MosheDayanHero]

It is almost certain that you didn't not attend a state university, or for that matter any university.
What gave you away?
Talk about honors classes at a university....
2. "Real professors?" Teaching universities ( most state Us) do not use grad. students to teach classes.

Do go to college when you're old enough

[kkm0112]

actually, many universities (including mine) have an "honors program" for students to take more difficult classes with a small number of classmates (usually around 20). as for the "real professors" comment, at many state universities the classes are so large that while lectures are "taught" by an actual professor, it's grad students moderating the smaller discussion portion, grading tests and papers, and serving as the contact, resource, and teacher for the student.

Also, you are pretty rude. That's all.

[KristinNoelle]

54,000 bucks? You can't tell me that the education is 6 times better than a state university so why is the tuition?

[LHB58]

Actually, the educations provided by these schools are 7 times better than those provided by state schools. So students who attend them are getting a bargain.

[MosheDayanHero]

LOL

[mymatrix]

As example, Harvard costs 50K but University spends 100K per student.

State schools are subsidized which accounts for much of the cost differential...and, they don't offer the same level of resources, professors, student support, technology......

[KristinNoelle]

I actually went to school there and attended a state university for graduate school. Don't get me wrong, Harvard has a lot of excellent resources, but a motivated student can learn just as much at a good state university. I actually read a study awhile back that concluded that students who were accepted into Ivy League schools but chose to attend other schools were just as successful as the Ivy League grads.

[Rapier]

Great party schools on the list! If you can't have fun then, then when?

[geekwhit]

I went to a private liberal arts college whose total cost, 10 years ago, was $30,000 per year. But 90% of the students had financial aid -- even students who came from very high-income families. I myself had a full tuition scholarship. So just looking at cost alone doesn't give the full picture.

[Baggaratz]

The top 60 highest tuitions are all right around $50,000, give or take some change. It seems a bit unfair to single out the Top One or Two from the 60th when the difference is only a couple hundred bucks.

[retreadite]

Obama needs to call out some of these universities. Tuition costs have been rising faster than health insurance costs over the last decade. Harvard has been leading in this issue and deserves some credit for using their massive endowment by funneling some of the money to students instead of building spiffy new soccer firelds.

[drreader]

In many of today's jobs a 4 year degree just doesn't cut it. Top students would be well advised to apply to the best state universities for undergrad studies. Post grad is the time to go all out for the best schools in your field, be it law, medicine, the arts etc. If one is going into a low paying profession, or one with limited job opportunities, then public university is the answer for both under and post grad. So many young people are starting their post school life with horrendous debt, for a few lines on a resume.

[tesserae]

You make some excellent points.

[njsul]

It's absurd the amount of debt we're asking students to pay. I wrote about my own experiences (I went to one of those schools as well as one in Germany) http://ajunkyard.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/colleges-gone-wild-someone-save-the-liberal-arts-education/

[empiricalWeb]

It's interesting that Bates is located in a city with a well noted prescription drug, and narcotics habit....

Not the "rich" kind, but the "toothless, hanging outside of 7-11" kind.

[LHB58]

I teach at a medium sized Catholic Liberal Arts college that competes with Boston College, Georgetown and Catholic U. Our tuition is currently around $30k per year, and the cost of living is moderate. Our school's enrollment is currently at an all time high, and growing, largely as a result of being perceived as a huge "bargain" when compared with similar, better known schools. Coming from a lower middle class background, I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that $30k per year is perceived by so many people as a bargain. On the other hand, students that transfer here from other, more expensive schools typically have trouble adjusting to the workload.

[Rapier]

There is a respected international ranking of universities given in the News section at
http://ofthisandthat.org/Commentary.html
Funny thing is ... none of these most expensive schools show up prominently!

[clevernamehere]

I really don't understand how college has gotten so expensive. Several of these schools were on my list when I applied to college about 10 years ago- not one topped 40k/yr even with room and board. Low 30k/yr was the norm for private colleges then.

Why has there been a 60% increase in cost?

The only change I notice between my undergrad years and my recent grad school years is more wi-fi, podcasts and online options. But, the infrastructure for these things were already in place when I was an undergrad- we had the same smart classrooms and wired dorms.

[ParacelsusTheophrastus]

Much of the money collected is ot even spent on academics. Students and parents began demanding expensive cafeterias and dorms and also often chose a school based on the sports program. Plus, the sticker price is often inflated and then knocked down by scholarships, much like buying a car.

[ECBA88]

Exactly. My school maintains somewhat reasonable prices for students in need by eschewing expensive sports programs and fancy dorms and facilities, by selling gym memberships to support a reasonable Wellness Center, and by edging up tuition while 80% of students receive financial aid, in effect taking more money from those who can afford it to subsidize those who truly can't. As a result, we are one of the dozen or so institutions in the US that maintain both completely need blind admissions, and a 100% guarantee to meet a student's demonstrated need once they are admitted. On top of that, despite maintaining between at 50-70% acceptance rate among our applicants, we rank top 20 in the nation in the percentage of graduates who go on to earn Ph.D.'s. If America's colleges focus on strong academics, faculty who truly teach, and making education accessible to all qualified students (which can be defined pretty broadly), they can offer much more than they currently do.