2025 Expensive Colleges To Attend Rankings
The tuition & fees are the costs for attending class at a college and it varies by academic programs. The tuition & fees may be charged per semester, per course, or per credit hour.
In general, public colleges such as University of Florida and UCLA have in-state and out-of-state tuition rate. Students living in state in which they attend school pay the in-state rate of tuition and the cost is cheaper than out-of-state rate. The out-of-state tuition is charted by colleges to students who do not meet the school or state's residency requirement. Some public schools also offer in-district rate of tuition and it is relatively cheaper than in-state rate as well as out-of-state rate. Private schools do not offer tuition for state residents and its tuition & fees are usually higher than public schools' tuition & fees.
University of Southern California has the most expensive tuition & fees ($68,237) and Brown University has the second highest tuition & fees ($68,230) based on academic year 2023-2024 college costs data.
Below table ranks and compares the Expensive Colleges To Attend having expensive tuition & fees (based on undergraduate rate). For the ranking, we only include 4-year colleges that more than 3,000 students have enrolled in.
Expensive Colleges To Attend
| Rank | College Name | Undergraduate Tuition & Fees | Graduate Tuition & Fees | SAT Score | Acceptance Rate | Population | Graduation Rate | Student to Faculty Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA | $68,237 | $68,128 | 1,510 | 10.0% | 48,945 | 92% | 9 to 1 |
| 12 | Brown University Providence, RI | $68,230 | $67,006 | 1,540 | 5.2% | 11,189 | 96% | 6 to 1 |
| 6 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY | $68,171 | $56,279 | 1,540 | 4.2% | 34,782 | 95% | 6 to 1 |
| 32 | Tufts University Medford, MA | $67,844 | $49,476 | 1,510 | 10.1% | 13,431 | 93% | 10 to 1 |
| 53 | Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA | $67,680 | $35,900 | 1,490 | 15.7% | 15,287 | 91% | 12 to 1 |
| 67 | Colgate University Hamilton, NY | $67,024 | $67,024 | 1,480 | 12.0% | 3,141 | 91% | 9 to 1 |
| 62 | Wesleyan University Middletown, CT | $67,016 | $66,736 | 1,510 | 17.1% | 3,253 | 92% | 7 to 1 |
| 93 | Pepperdine University Malibu, CA | $66,742 | $42,020 | 1,360 | 49.9% | 10,030 | 85% | 13 to 1 |
| 24 | Barnard College New York, NY | $66,246 | - | 1,510 | 8.0% | 3,442 | 93% | 10 to 1 |
| 7 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA | $66,104 | $46,034 | 1,540 | 5.9% | 28,201 | 97% | 8 to 1 |
| 17 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY | $66,014 | $30,085 | 1,520 | 8.2% | 25,898 | 95% | 9 to 1 |
| 11 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL | $65,997 | $53,871 | 1,530 | 7.2% | 23,161 | 96% | 6 to 1 |
| 10 | Duke University Durham, NC | $65,805 | $63,985 | 1,550 | 6.8% | 18,023 | 96% | 6 to 1 |
| 5 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL | $65,619 | $66,543 | 1,550 | 4.8% | 18,339 | 95% | 5 to 1 |
| 36 | Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA | $65,538 | $66,046 | 1,450 | 14.6% | 14,027 | 89% | 8 to 1 |
| 13 | Dartmouth College Hanover, NH | $65,511 | $64,068 | 1,540 | 6.2% | 6,744 | 96% | 7 to 1 |
| 42 | Boston University Boston, MA | $65,168 | $64,712 | 1,470 | 10.9% | 36,714 | 90% | 11 to 1 |
| 26 | Georgetown University Washington, DC | $65,081 | $59,306 | 1,500 | 13.1% | 20,984 | 94% | 11 to 1 |
| 81 | Brandeis University Waltham, MA | $64,946 | $61,578 | 1,470 | 35.3% | 5,581 | 86% | 10 to 1 |
| 89 | George Washington University Washington, DC | $64,798 | $35,154 | 1,430 | 43.5% | 25,939 | 85% | 12 to 1 |
| 115 | Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA | $64,772 | $28,280 | 1,370 | 32.0% | 3,787 | 86% | 9 to 1 |
| 84 | Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC | $64,758 | $39,350 | 1,460 | 21.6% | 8,963 | 91% | 10 to 1 |
| 66 | Villanova University Villanova, PA | $64,701 | $21,361 | 1,460 | 25.1% | 10,383 | 92% | 10 to 1 |
| 8 | Yale University New Haven, CT | $64,700 | $48,300 | 1,540 | 4.5% | 14,776 | 96% | 6 to 1 |
| 78 | Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH | $64,678 | $52,402 | 1,490 | 28.7% | 12,201 | 87% | 9 to 1 |
| 154 | Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX | $64,460 | $37,062 | 1,410 | 61.2% | 12,053 | 83% | 11 to 1 |
| 64 | University of Rochester Rochester, NY | $64,348 | $38,863 | 1,480 | 35.9% | 12,197 | 84% | 9 to 1 |
| 15 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN | $63,946 | $56,128 | 1,540 | 6.3% | 13,710 | 93% | 7 to 1 |
| 18 | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA | $63,274 | $49,450 | 1,540 | 11.4% | 16,002 | 93% | 5 to 1 |
| 52 | Northeastern University Boston, MA | $63,141 | $28,100 | 1,500 | 5.7% | 30,013 | 90% | 16 to 1 |
| 87 | Syracuse University Syracuse, NY | $63,061 | $46,318 | 1,340 | 41.7% | 22,698 | 81% | 15 to 1 |
| 21 | Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO | $62,982 | $62,366 | 1,540 | 12.0% | 17,012 | 94% | 7 to 1 |
| 23 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD | $62,840 | $65,956 | 1,550 | 7.6% | 31,275 | 95% | 6 to 1 |
| 127 | Chapman University Orange, CA | $62,784 | $38,604 | 1,340 | 55.6% | 10,014 | 80% | 12 to 1 |
| 19 | University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN | $62,693 | $62,502 | 1,500 | 12.4% | 13,105 | 97% | 9 to 1 |
| 210 | University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA | $62,600 | $27,852 | 1,470 | 23.3% | 3,876 | 88% | 8 to 1 |
| 2 | Stanford University Stanford, CA | $62,484 | $59,499 | 1,550 | 3.9% | 18,283 | 93% | 5 to 1 |
| 399 | Lewis & Clark College Portland, OR | $62,350 | $19,134 | 1,310 | 74.5% | 3,595 | 71% | 13 to 1 |
| 58 | Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA | $62,180 | $28,020 | 1,430 | 29.3% | 7,394 | 89% | 10 to 1 |
| 143 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY | $61,884 | $61,873 | 1,410 | 58.5% | 6,968 | 83% | 12 to 1 |
| 213 | Fordham University Bronx, NY | $61,567 | $25,954 | 1,400 | 56.3% | 16,556 | 80% | 14 to 1 |
| 190 | Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ | $60,952 | $42,988 | 1,440 | 43.4% | 9,314 | 90% | 11 to 1 |
| 94 | College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA | $60,850 | - | 1,340 | 21.1% | 3,083 | 90% | 10 to 1 |
| 282 | Providence College Providence, RI | $60,848 | $12,210 | 1,330 | 48.7% | 4,473 | 88% | 11 to 1 |
| 33 | Emory University Atlanta, GA | $60,774 | $47,722 | 1,520 | 11.1% | 14,841 | 92% | 9 to 1 |
| 122 | Drexel University Philadelphia, PA | $60,663 | $37,074 | 1,330 | 77.5% | 22,344 | 77% | 9 to 1 |
| 25 | New York University New York, NY | $60,438 | $41,124 | 1,530 | 9.4% | 59,144 | 88% | 8 to 1 |
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA | $60,156 | $63,393 | 1,550 | 4.7% | 11,858 | 96% | 3 to 1 |
| 57 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI | $60,107 | $55,052 | 1,470 | 17.9% | 51,225 | 93% | 12 to 1 |
| 55 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL | $59,926 | $44,858 | 1,400 | 18.5% | 19,402 | 84% | 13 to 1 |
| 3 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ | $59,710 | $62,860 | 1,540 | 4.5% | 8,842 | 97% | 5 to 1 |
| 1 | Pratt Institute-Main Brooklyn, NY | $59,683 | $38,986 | 1,330 | 53.2% | 5,494 | 73% | 9 to 1 |
| 43 | University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA | $59,633 | $36,198 | 1,490 | 16.9% | 26,082 | 95% | 15 to 1 |
| 145 | University of Denver Denver, CO | $59,340 | $58,347 | 1,320 | 71.2% | 13,734 | 78% | 8 to 1 |
| 69 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA | $59,241 | $25,873 | 1,420 | 43.8% | 9,178 | 88% | 12 to 1 |
| 4 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA | $59,076 | $55,440 | 1,550 | 3.5% | 30,631 | 97% | 7 to 1 |
| 199 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA | $58,870 | $29,040 | - | 58.5% | 7,308 | 88% | 13 to 1 |
| 76 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA | $58,489 | $21,902 | - | 40.3% | 10,165 | 80% | 11 to 1 |
| 835 | Rollins College Winter Park, FL | $58,300 | $25,600 | 1,290 | 40.6% | 3,029 | 77% | 11 to 1 |
| 708 | University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA | $58,222 | $29,140 | 1,300 | 50.8% | 9,688 | 71% | 13 to 1 |
| 106 | Bentley University Waltham, MA | $58,150 | $44,720 | 1,330 | 48.4% | 5,165 | 88% | 12 to 1 |
| 14 | Rice University Houston, TX | $58,128 | $54,462 | 1,550 | 7.9% | 8,672 | 96% | 6 to 1 |
| 646 | Clarkson University Potsdam, NY | $57,950 | $36,856 | 1,300 | 77.2% | 3,719 | 74% | 14 to 1 |
| 414 | University of Redlands Redlands, CA | $57,614 | $25,072 | 1,205 | 80.9% | 3,460 | 71% | 10 to 1 |
| 254 | Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX | $57,220 | $35,778 | 1,270 | 42.6% | 12,273 | 86% | 14 to 1 |
| 273 | St Olaf College Northfield, MN | $56,970 | - | 1,350 | 52.2% | 3,046 | 84% | 12 to 1 |
| 113 | Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY | $56,664 | $57,764 | 1,370 | 71.4% | 16,615 | 71% | 13 to 1 |
| 92 | American University Washington, DC | $56,543 | $33,239 | 1,380 | 47.4% | 13,885 | 78% | 11 to 1 |
| 329 | University of San Diego San Diego, CA | $56,444 | $29,328 | - | 46.8% | 8,815 | 82% | 13 to 1 |
| 224 | Fairfield University Fairfield, CT | $56,360 | $20,740 | 1,310 | 45.0% | 6,019 | 84% | 12 to 1 |
| 354 | The New School New York, NY | $56,311 | $53,018 | - | 62.5% | 10,108 | 71% | 10 to 1 |
| 2 | Babson College Wellesley, MA | $56,032 | $54,600 | 1,440 | 19.7% | 3,989 | 92% | 16 to 1 |
| 398 | The Catholic University of America Washington, DC | $55,834 | $53,220 | - | 83.8% | 4,968 | 81% | 11 to 1 |
| 846 | Loyola University Maryland Baltimore, MD | $55,480 | $19,440 | 1,270 | 76.3% | 5,238 | 80% | 13 to 1 |
| 825 | Hofstra University Hempstead, NY | $55,450 | $29,950 | 1,290 | 70.6% | 10,238 | 67% | 13 to 1 |
| 173 | University of the Pacific Stockton, CA | $55,340 | $53,544 | 1,300 | 94.9% | 6,277 | 68% | 14 to 1 |
| 319 | Stetson University DeLand, FL | $55,220 | $17,586 | 1,190 | 86.4% | 3,928 | 63% | 11 to 1 |
| 381 | Clark University Worcester, MA | $55,160 | $48,590 | 1,320 | 41.7% | 3,770 | 77% | 9 to 1 |
| 461 | University of Portland Portland, OR | $54,900 | $26,100 | 1,260 | 95.4% | 3,793 | 80% | 9 to 1 |
| 131 | Baylor University Waco, TX | $54,844 | $41,130 | 1,290 | 51.0% | 20,709 | 80% | 15 to 1 |
| 181 | Emerson College Boston, MA | $54,816 | $34,352 | 1,340 | 47.5% | 5,891 | 79% | 15 to 1 |
| 257 | Pacific University Forest Grove, OR | $54,466 | $37,805 | 1,110 | 91.8% | 3,559 | 65% | 9 to 1 |
| 246 | Seattle University Seattle, WA | $54,285 | $15,795 | 1,260 | 76.1% | 7,121 | 73% | 10 to 1 |
| 909 | Widener University Chester, PA | $53,638 | $27,105 | 1,170 | 84.0% | 5,416 | 64% | 11 to 1 |
| 193 | Gonzaga University Spokane, WA | $53,500 | $20,244 | 1,315 | 76.0% | 7,253 | 87% | 12 to 1 |
| 82 | Saint Louis University Saint Louis, MO | $53,244 | $24,494 | 1,340 | 81.5% | 15,755 | 80% | 9 to 1 |
| 468 | Quinnipiac University Hamden, CT | $53,090 | $18,217 | 1,200 | 77.0% | 8,788 | 77% | 11 to 1 |
| 3 | School of the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL | $52,604 | $44,634 | - | 76.4% | 3,532 | 64% | 11 to 1 |
| 489 | University of St Thomas Saint Paul, MN | $52,284 | $21,992 | 1,350 | 84.9% | 9,025 | 75% | 13 to 1 |
| 121 | University of Scranton Scranton, PA | $52,034 | $11,630 | 1,230 | 84.4% | 4,731 | 81% | 12 to 1 |
| 686 | Merrimack College North Andover, MA | $51,786 | $35,500 | - | 73.6% | 5,505 | 72% | 13 to 1 |
| 216 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL | $51,716 | $22,305 | 1,250 | 81.4% | 16,899 | 77% | 13 to 1 |
| 977 | Pace University New York, NY | $51,424 | $29,363 | 1,220 | 77.1% | 13,609 | 61% | 14 to 1 |
| 996 | Saint Edward's University Austin, TX | $51,384 | $29,570 | 1,140 | 83.7% | 3,470 | 64% | 14 to 1 |
| 759 | Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ | $51,370 | $36,110 | 1,300 | 78.9% | 9,623 | 71% | 14 to 1 |
| 306 | Saint Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA | $51,340 | $19,786 | 1,250 | 86.4% | 7,861 | 80% | 10 to 1 |
| 508 | Bryant University Smithfield, RI | $51,169 | $49,960 | 1,250 | 65.7% | 3,536 | 81% | 13 to 1 |
| 116 | Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL | $50,917 | $33,810 | 1,290 | 55.4% | 6,943 | 72% | 13 to 1 |
| 576 | Manhattan College Riverdale, NY | $50,850 | $22,600 | 1,260 | 78.5% | 3,575 | 66% | 11 to 1 |
| 754 | California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA | $50,670 | $22,498 | 1,220 | 88.9% | 3,615 | 74% | 14 to 1 |