<p>COLLEGE / 2010-2011 listed price / 2010-2011 true average
Babson $54,666 / $41,135
Bentley $51,473 / $35,209
Boston College $54,624 / $40,109
Boston University $54,836 / $40,622
Brandeis $54,003 / $37,368
College of the Holy Cross $52,432 / $36,715
Harvard $53,950 / $28,979
MIT $53,210 / $32,053
Northeastern $51,902 / $36,180
Smith $54,212 / $33,961
Tufts $55,000 / $43,797
Wellesley $54,000 / $32,640
Williams $54,921 / $34,554
WPI $52,440 / $34,700
Average -- / $36,287 </p>
<p>.... the growing focus on student debt and the long-lasting financial burden it can inflict on young people make the cost of college more pressing than ever. Massachusetts ranked 12th among states when it came to the debt shouldered by 2010 graduates, according to the Project on Student Debt.</p>
<p>Simply computing college costs is complicated. I patched together information on the real average cost at many of the states well-known private universities blending the sticker prices for tuition and other expenses with levels of undergraduate financial aid.</p>
<p>The first conclusion: Leading Massachusetts universities seem to charge nearly identical prices to new undergraduate students. But average costs from one school to another actually vary by as much as 50 percent.</p>
<p>The second conclusion: The wealthiest, most elite schools are the least expensive to attend thanks to giant endowments and other resources. Harvard University charged students less, on average, than any other private undergraduate school I tested.</p>
<p>The actual average cost of attending Harvard was nearly 50 percent below the universitys listed total price of $53,950 for new undergraduates in a recent academic year.</p>
<p>The sticker prices listed by more than a dozen leading Massachusetts universities are strikingly similar around $55,000 for all on-campus undergraduate expenses this year, give or take a few thousand dollars. On the surface, none of those schools would seem to be competing on price.</p>
<p>But many students receive a range of discounts to those sticker prices through grants and scholarships actual financial aid as opposed to loans. In fact, pricing everywhere is all over the map. Its hard to get the big picture into focus.</p>
<p>I gave it a try and pulled together financial data on the 2010-11 school year, the most recent available, to produce something close to a true average cost per student at individual schools. I ran those numbers for 14 well-known private universities that charge similar tuitions.</p>
<p>In fact, there was a much greater range of average student expenses than the sticker prices would suggest. Those range from a low of $28,979 to a high of $43,797.</p>
<p>And then there were the relative bargains offered by the wealthiest colleges. Harvard was followed by MIT and Wellesley College when it came to the lowest average costs.
...
The most expensive school in my test was Tufts University ($43,797), followed by Babson College ($41,135). Boston University and Boston College were close behind, neck-and-neck with average costs a bit over $40,000 each.</p>
<p>The other tested schools in order of average expense were Brandeis University, Smith College, College of the Holy Cross, Northeastern University, Bentley College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Williams College.</p>
<p>The average costs for the group of schools an average of averages is $36,287. One point of comparison: The public University of Massachusetts Amherst costs an average of $17,958, by my method.</p>
<p>Some schools offer smaller amounts of financial aid to a large percentage of students as much as 98 percent at WPI. Others offer large amounts of assistance but target a smaller part of the student population.</p>
<p>Universities are reluctant to compete overtly on prices. Some, like Tufts, emphasize the amount of aid they extend to students who need it most. Others, like Babson, focus on superior long-term earnings power of their graduates.</p>
<p>But true costs matter, and they are only going to become a bigger factor in years ahead. The wealthiest schools have the money to react. Others need the will and the smarts to respond.</p>