The Cost Differences (or lack thereof) among the USNWR Top 30 & Top 20

College Search & Selection
1

<p>While financial packages, some involving merit aid, might vary from college to college, the sticker prices for tuition and fees don't vary greatly among the USNWR Top 30 National Universities and the Top 20 LACs. Clearly, the equation changes signficantly for some families with the recent changes in financial aid policies at many of these colleges. </p>

<p>Here is the raw data as provided by USNWR (only OOS pricing shown for publics):</p>

<p>National Universities</p>

<p>< $20,000 , 0<br>
$20-24,000 , 1 , U North Carolina
$24-28,000 , 4 , UCLA, Rice, UC Berkeley, U Virginia
$28-30,000 , 0<br>
$30-32,000 , 2 , U Michigan, Caltech
$32-34,000 , 1 , Princeton
$34-36,000 , 18 , Wake Forest, Emory, Yale, Cornell, Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Dartmouth, Notre Dame
Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Wash U, Duke, USC, U Chicago, J Hopkins, U Penn, CMU</p>

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<br>

<p>1 U North Carolina , $20,988
2 UCLA , $26,102
3 Rice , $26,106
4 UC Berkeley , $27,452
5 U Virginia , $27,750
6 U Michigan , $30,154
7 Cal Tech , $31,020
8 Princeton , $33,000
9 Wake Forest , $34,330
10 Emory , $34,336
11 Yale , $34,530
12 Cornell , $34,781
13 Stanford , $34,800
14 MIT , $34,986
15 Harvard , $34,998
16 Dartmouth , $35,178
17 Notre Dame , $35,187
18 Northwestern , $35,229
19 Vanderbilt , $35,278
20 Wash U StL , $35,524
21 Duke , $35,756
22 USC , $35,810
23 U Chicago , $35,868
24 J Hopkins , $35,900
25 U Penn , $35,916
26 Carnegie Mellon , $35,984
27 Georgetown , $36,140
28 Brown , $36,342
29 Tufts , $36,700
30 Columbia , $36,997 </p>

<p>LACs</p>

<p>< $20,000 , 0 , US Naval Academy
$20-24,000 , 0<br>
$24-28,000 , 0<br>
$28-30,000 , 0<br>
$30-32,000 , 2 , Davidson, Grinnell
$32-34,000 , 1 , Pomona
$34-36,000 , 8 , Williams, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Haverford, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, W&L, Smith</p>

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<br>

<p>1 US Naval Acad , $-<br>
2 Grinnell , $30,192
3 Davidson , $31,794
4 Pomona , $33,932
5 Smith , $34,186
6 Swarthmore , $34,884
7 Harvey Mudd , $34,891
8 Wellesley , $34,994
9 Claremont McK , $35,190
10 Haverford , $35,390
11 W&L , $35,445
12 Williams , $35,670
13 Carleton , $36,156
14 Amherst , $36,232
15 Oberlin , $36,282
16 Bowdoin , $36,370
17 Wesleyan , $36,806
18 Hamilton , $36,860
19 Colgate , $37,660
20 Vassar , $38,113
21 Middlebury , na</p>

2

<p>hawkette:</p>

<p>I'm assuming that, you are only including tuition/fees, and excluding R&B? </p>

<p>Dorms at Cal run ~$14k, or twice that of other colleges. As a result, estimated costs for OOS attendance at Cal is ~$45k per year.</p>

3

<p>Yes, these are the "rack rates" for tuition & fees only. There seems to be a sweet spot in the $34-36k range for national universities and, as a group, the LACs are slightly more expensive than the national universities. </p>

<p>I think it is clear, however, that the IS state students in Virginia, California, Michigan and North Carolina are getting a bargain (and also that the OOS students at these schools usually aren't).</p>

4

<p>i'm surprised at how expensive brown and columbia are... and how cheap caltech is</p>