The 15 Most Expensive Colleges in the U.S. - 2019 Edition
The cost of higher education continues to rise. If you’re curious, here are some of the top 15 expensive schools in the nation. We’ve updated fees to reflect this year’s costs based on each college’s list of tuition, fees, room, and board. However, be sure to double check as you’re narrowing down your colleges.
15. Haverford College (Haverford, PA)
Located just outside of Philadelphia, Haverford College is home to a well-known arboretum with 400 species of trees and shrubs and about 200 acres of award-winning architecture and landscaping. See more about tuition and fees here.
Tuition & Fees: $56,200
Room & Board: $16,770
Student Body Size: 1,353
Acceptance Rate: 19%
14. Northwestern University (Evanston, IL)
Northwestern has three campuses: a 240-acre campus in Evanston, a 25-acre campus in Chicago and a third campus in Doha, Qatar. Read more about tuition and fees here.
Tuition & Fees: $56,232
Room & Board: $17,019
Student Body Size: 8,231
Acceptance Rate: 8%
13. Barnard College (New York, NY)
As a women’s college, Barnard College “embraces its responsibility to address issues of gender in all of their complexity and urgency.“ Additionally, over 60% of faculty are women. Read more about tuition and fees here.
Tuition & Fees: $55,781
Room & Board: $8,928
Student Body Size: 2,562
Acceptance Rate: 14%
12. Sarah Lawrence College (Yonkers, NY)
Located just a 30 minute train ride to midtown Manhattan. Learn more about the breakdown of costs here.
Tuition & Fees: $56,020
Room & Board: $13,120
Student Body Size: 1,410
Acceptance Rate: 56%
11. Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH)
One of the Ivies, Dartmouth College is one of the oldest and most respected higher education institutions in the US. See breakdown of fees here.
Tuition & Fees: $55,605
Room & Board: $17,973
Student Body Size: 4,417
Acceptance Rate: 9%
10. Trinity College (Hartford, CT)
Trinity College was founded as an alternative to Yale in 1823, the second-oldest college in Connecticut. Read more about tuition and fees here.
Tuition & Fees: $56,380
Room & Board: $15,300
Student Body Size: 2,117
Acceptance Rate: 34%
9. Claremont McKenna College (Claremont, CA)
Claremont is located 30 miles east of LA. Students are able to participate in co-curricular activities at Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Pomona College, and Scripps College, as well as the Claremont Graduate University.
Tuition & Fees: $56,190
Room & Board: $8,650
Student Body Size: 1,324
Acceptance Rate: 9%
8. University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
Located southwest of Los Angeles, USC is a highly competitive research university. See the breakdown of costs here.
Tuition & Fees: $57,256
Room & Board: $15,916
Student Body Size: 20,000
Acceptance Rate: 13%
7. Scripps College (Claremont, Caifornia)
Known for its extensive core curriculum, Scripps College is a private liberal arts school for women.
Tuition & Fees: $56,970
Room & Board: $17,600
Student Body Size: 1,048
Acceptance Rate: 24%
6. Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio)
Who doesn’t love fun facts? US NEWS shares, “For $5 each, students can rent up to two works of art for a semester by artists such as Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec through the Art Rental program.”
Tuition & Fees: $55,976
Room & Board: $16,826
Student Body Size: 2,785
Acceptance Rate: 36%
5. Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX)
Dallas is a city that “boasts an average of 232 days of sunshine a year” with over 400 parks in the area to choose from. According to Best Life, “Three-quarters of students benefit from scholarships and grants packages which range from $236 to $80,067.”
Tuition & Fees: $56,560
Room & Board: $16,750
Student Body Size: 6,479
Acceptance Rate: 55%
4. Bard College (Dutchess County, NY)
Bard College’s main campus sits on the Hudson River, in rural New York, and “includes nearly 1,000 acres and features more than 70 buildings of various architectural styles, from historic to contemporary.” It has the highest acceptance rate out of the top 4 most expensive colleges. See Cost of Attendance breakdown here.
Tuition & Fees: $55,566
Room & Board: $17,500
Student Body Size: 1,893
Acceptance Rate: 65%
3. University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
The University of Chicago is ranked #6 in national universities. For fall of 2018, “More than 32,000 applied and less than 2,400 were accepted.”
Tuition & Fees: $57,642
Room & Board: $17,004
Student Body Size: 6,552
Acceptance Rate: 7%
2. Columbia University (New York, NY)
Columbia University’s cost is a “little bit higher than the average amount of similar schools' tuition” according to CollegeTuitionCompare.
Tuition & Fees: $57,208
Room & Board: $13,618
Student Body Size: 6,202
Acceptance Rate: 6% (Learn more here.)
1. Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, California)
In 2018, Harvey Mudd was ranked #1 for undergraduate engineering. Harvey Mudd has been “the most expensive university in the country for three years running.” For a full list of estimated fees, see their Cost of Attendance page.
Tuition & Fees: $58,359
Room & Board: $18,679
Student Body Size: 889
Acceptance Rate: 14% (Learn more here).
