Do you wonder what the most/least expensive schools are?

Parents Forum
1

<p>Here is a top 10 listing of the most expensive and least expensive schools by category. Hope this helps:</p>

<p>Most expensive private schools
School Price
1. Sarah Lawrence College -- Bronxville, N.Y. $32,416
2. Kenyon College -- Gambier, Ohio $32,170
3. Trinity College -- Hartford, Conn. $31,940
4. George Washington University -- Washington, D.C. $31,710
5. Hamilton College -- Clinton, N.Y. $31,700
6. Bowdoin College -- Brunswick, Maine $31,656
7. Wesleyan University -- Middletown, Conn. $31,650
8. Columbia University -- New York, N.Y. $31,472
9. Colgate University -- Hamilton, N.Y. $31,440
10. Pitzer College -- Claremont, Calif. $31,438 </p>

<hr>

<p>Most expensive public schools
School Price
1. Penn State University -- University Park, Pa. $10,856
2. University of Pittsburgh -- Pittsburgh, Pa. $10,830
3. University of Vermont -- Burlington, Vt. $10,226
4. University of New Hampshire -- Durham, N.H. $9,226
5. New Jersey Institute of Technology -- Newark, N.J. $9,180
6. Temple University -- Philadelphia, Pa. $9,102
7. University of Massachusetts -- Amherst, Mass. $9,008
8. Rutgers University -- New Brunswick, N.J. $8,564
9. University of Cincinnati -- Cincinnati, Ohio $8,379
10. Rutgers University -- Newark, N.J. $8,209 </p>

<hr>

<p>Least expensive private schools
School Price
1. National Hispanic University -- San Jose, Calif. $4,610
2. Arkansas Baptist College -- Little Rock, Ark. $5,074
3. Talladega College -- Talladega, Ala. $7,128
4. Lane College -- Jackson, Tenn. $7,176
5. Tougaloo College -- Tougaloo, Miss. $8,375
6. Judson College -- Elgin, Ill. $9,420
7. Paine College -- Augusta, Ga. $9,624
8. Augustine College -- Raleigh, N.C. $10,388
9. Barber-Scotia College -- Concord, N.C. $10,686
10. Wesleyan College -- Macon, Ga. $10,900 </p>

<hr>

<p>Least expensive public schools
School Price
1. University of Nevada -- Reno, Nev. $2,682
2. Florida State University -- Tallahassee, Fla. $2,890
3. San Diego State University -- San Diego, Calif. $2,936
4. University of Florida -- Gainesville, Fla. $2,955
5. Florida Atlantic University -- Boca Raton, Fla. $3,092
6. Texas A&M University -- Kingsville, Texas $3,109
7. Florida International University -- Miami, Fla. $3,156
8. University of South Florida -- Tampa, Fla. $3,167
9. University of Central Florida -- Orlando, Fla. $3,180
10. University of Nevada -- Las Vegas, Nev. $3,210 </p>

<p>Schools like Carnegie Mellon, whose tuition is $31,650 wasn't mentioned. Tell me this wasn't planned!</p>

2

<p>It is sort of deceptive to list the most expensive schools based on tuition for schools which are totally or almost entirely residential. The room and board at these schools may cost less than some other residential schools, so that the total fees are not actually higher than the other schools. I have two children in private colleges/universities, and one of the schools is on your list of most expensive. The costs of the two schools are actually almost identical, due to the differences in room and board.</p>

3

<p>Taxguy:</p>

<p>It would be useful to include room and board in the calculation of Cost of Attendance; for public universities, it would be useful to include out-of state tuition rate as well as in-state. For an OOS, Berkeley is not such a bargain as it is for a CA resident.</p>

4

<p>MOT:
My thoughts exactly, why don't they use the amount for R&B plus books & transport!</p>

5

<p>Sorry, this was the list that they published.</p>

6

<p>Taxguy:</p>

<p>We knew it was "them" and not you :)</p>

<p>All the schools have to post that cost of attendence sample number, why not compare that,m the housing differences can be huge. Even between the two UCs, a triple at one is the price of a single at another! This is a $4000+ difference on a $10,000 base within the same campus system!</p>

7

<p>I'm confused: is this just tuition? What does "Price" include? Depending on your answer, I know some schools that are conspicuously missing from BOTH lists.</p>

<p>Where did this list originate, and what year is it from?</p>

<p>(For instance, MIT's tuition alone this year is $32,300. And no student at the new Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering pays a penny in tuition.)</p>

8

<p>For good measure, I have added the room and board to the 2005-2006 tuition for the schools listed in the OP first table (Less Columbia but plus Williams). I also have added the average financial aid package at the same schools:</p>

<p>Schools -------------Tuition- Room - Total - Finaid - Total Less Finaid
Sarah Lawrence (NY) 34042 11464 45506 28686 16820
Kenyon College(OH) 33930 5570 39500 23245 16255
Trinity College(CT) 33630 8590 42220 26982 15238
Geo Washington (DC) 34030 10470 44500 30891 13609
Hamilton College(NY) 33350 8310 41660 24032 17628
Bowdoin College(ME) 32990 8670 41660 26536 15124
Wesleyan Univer(CT) 33190 8932 42122 27667 14455
Colgate Universi(NY) 33105 8065 41170 26923 14247
Pitzer College --- (CA) 33012 8532 41544 28790 12754
Williams College(MA) 31750 8550 40300 27840 12460</p>

<p>A few more
Amherst College(MA) 33035 8585 41620 27288 14332
Swarthmore College(PA) 31516 9764 41280 27421 13859
Wellesley College(MA) 31348 9682 41030 26673 14357
Carleton College(MN) 32469 7818 40287 23909 16378
Pomona College(CA) 29923 10851 40774 27866 12908
Claremont McKenna (CA) 30800 10270 41070 25138 15932</p>

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<p>Harvard 32097 9578 41675 28645 13030
Princeton 31450 8763 40213 26855 13358
Yale --- 31460 9540 41000 26982 14018
Stanford 31200 9932 41132 28600 12532
Duke --- 32410 8830 41240 26914 14326
Dartmouth 31965 9390 41355 27943 13412
MIT ---- 32300 9500 41800 27800 14000
Caltech 27309 8814 36123 26781 9342
Brown 32974 8796 41770 24878 16892
Cornell 31467 10250 41717 29389 12328
Emory 30794 9752 40546 26373 14173
Berkeley InState 6413 12554 18967 14631 4336
Berkeley Out 24233 12554 36787 14631 22156</p>

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<p>Mini, if you happen to read this...and I think you will...
I thought of you when I read this list because on some other thread (I forget where I read it yesterday), you thought the kid made up the name of some colleges and take a look at this list...there really IS a Barber-Scotia College!
Susan</p>

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<p>The list was copied from MSN.com but originated at Collegeboard.com</p>

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<p>Also, Cooper Union and Curtis Inst of Music have no tuition and students get paid to attend the service academies. These lists are not well-defined - how about fees? certain majors may cost more than others... are these costs from the same year? etc.</p>

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<p>Berea College charges no tuition.</p>

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<p>I didn't know that Temple was part of the public university system in Penn....</p>

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<p>For Columbia, using the most expensive meal plan and rooms listed, the costs are 31924, 10646, 42570 total. (I don't know this year's FA numbers). You could lop off about 1000 with the cheapest room.</p>

<p>(and after first-year, you can drop the meal plan entirely and budget much less while eating well--at least, we hope! :) )</p>

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<p>Temple isn't part of the "public university system".. it's a seperate "public school" such as penn state. the public university system is schools like slippery rock, kutztown, shippensburg, millersville, etc. </p>

<p>i'm assuming those costs listed are just for tuition, and that makes me think they are leaving schools off, because tuition at my college this upcoming year is 9,350 and i don't see them on that list for cheapest privates. and flagler college's yearly tuition is 8,600. where are they on the list?</p>

17

<p>Listings such as USNews typically include the fees in the quoted tuition when the fees are KNOWN and mandatory. </p>

<p>For instance, Harvard "list cost" is $32,097, but tuition is "only" $28,752, health fees are $1,370, and students' fees are $1,975. </p>

<p>As another example. tuition at York College (PA) is indeed $9,350 but that does NOT include fees of $700. The cost before room and board is thus $10,050. </p>

<p>FWIW, it would be impossible to produce a list that includes transportation and books. Transportation costs may vary from nothing to several thousands; book expenses vary from major to major and can be resold after using them. To find an estimate for each school, one has to check the estimates produced by the financial aid office. </p>

<p>Lastly, comparing the costs of tuition is not very relevant to a large percentage of applicants; the figure of costs minus expected financial aid is much more important, not to mention the composition of financial aid.</p>

18

<p>Xiggi:</p>

<p>You are right it is impossible to list actual transportation costs. I was thinking of that offical COA number the schools ahve to put out. When my D was deciding between 6 schools, I made a spreadsheet: tuition/fees, R&B, fin offers, then had a net cost, after that I added up actual reasonable transportation fees from her home to each school and visits for us. That is the only way for a family to compare their actual choices. The only right way to show costs across the country would be tuition/fees plus R&B plus any other mandatory costs (health insurance, etc.) If you show the costs to attend the school, people can figure out books & transport and "personal" costsd themselves.</p>

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<p>xiggi, regardless, 10,050 would belong on that list.. making the list inaccurate.</p>

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<p>All lists suck. Why as Americans do we reduce everything down to a list?</p>