The U.S. 草莓传媒 Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore , and to find data that matters to you in your college or grad school search.
The college search is often beset with an old but increasingly difficult question for families: How can we afford it?
With runaway tuition, families are paying significantly more now than they were in prior decades. U.S. 草莓传媒 data shows that cost an average of $38,185 at ranked private schools. Average tuition for out-of-state students attending ranked public colleges comes to $22,698, and average in-state tuition at public institutions is $10,338.
Some college officials point to financial struggles as one of the most common reasons students .
As tuition continues to climb, families are increasingly squeezed financially, especially with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which has disrupted work for millions. Price-sensitive families — a description that fits many — must consider what they can afford without piling a burden of debt on students that may take years to pay off, depending on how much is borrowed.
Families would be well served to understand tuition costs and factor those into their .
U.S. 草莓传媒 collected tuition data as part of an annual survey sent to colleges in the spring and summer of 2021. Among the findings from that data is that of the 705 ranked private colleges that provided their 2021-2022 tuition and fees, 145 have sticker prices of more than $50,000 for the year. By contrast, only 55 private colleges reported annual tuition and fees under $20,000.
Among the 10 colleges reporting the highest tuition and fees, two schools — Columbia University in New York and the University of Pennsylvania — are ranked among the top 10 , institutions that are often research-oriented and offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. Columbia is tied at No. 2 while Penn is ranked at No. 8. Keep in mind, however, that tuition costs alone do not factor into the overall ranking methodology, although the calculations do assess schools on the average indebtedness of their graduates.
Four of the 10 most expensive private colleges are categorized as National Universities and the other six are , which emphasize undergraduate education and award half or more of their degrees across liberal arts fields. Colgate University in New York and Wesleyan University in Connecticut, both tied at No. 17, are the highest-ranked National Liberal Arts Colleges on this list.
Tuition and fees at these 10 colleges average out to $62,601, per U.S. 草莓传媒 data.
The majority of the 10 private colleges with the highest tuition and fee costs are located on the East Coast, with New York claiming three. But there are two geographic outliers: Colorado College and Kenyon College in Ohio.
While these tuition numbers may be eye-popping, families should understand that aren’t always what they’ll end up paying once institutional grants and scholarships are applied, thus bringing the overall costs down.
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On the opposite end of this cost spectrum are ranked private colleges across the 50 states and Washington, D.C., that reported the lowest tuition and fees for the 2021-2022 school year. The average cost is much lower among these 10 schools, coming out to $11,642, per U.S. 草莓传媒 data.
Of these 10 colleges, the lowest price tag is found at Brigham Young University–Provo in Utah, which reported 2021-2022 tuition and fees at $6,120. BYU is tied at No. 79 in the National Universities category. One caveat about the school’s cost, however, is that this price is only for students who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the faith with which BYU is affiliated. Students who are not members have to pay twice the listed tuition rate, according to BYU’s website, at $12,240 for the year.
Colleges reporting the lowest tuition rates are a mix of National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges, as well as one — a category that encompasses schools that offer bachelor’s degrees, some master’s programs and limited options at the doctoral level — and several , institutions that focus on undergraduate education but award fewer than half of their degrees in liberal arts fields. The 10 least expensive private colleges are also geographically diverse, spread broadly across the U.S.
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The tables below show the schools across the 50 states and Washington, D.C., that charge the most and least tuition and fees in 2021-2022, as reported to U.S. 草莓传媒 this spring and summer. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. 草莓传媒 to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
Most Expensive Schools
| School Name (state) | 2021-2022 tuition and fees | U.S. 草莓传媒 Rank and Category |
| $63,530 | 2 (tie), National Universities | |
| $63,401 | 42 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| $63,310 | 30 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| $63,000 | 28 (tie), National Universities | |
| $62,870 | 22 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| $62,404 | 14 (tie), National Universities | |
| $62,070 | 26, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| $61,966 | 17 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| $61,749 | 17 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| $61,710 | 8, National Universities |
Least Expensive Schools
| School Name (state) | 2021-2022 tuition and fees | U.S. 草莓传媒 Rank and Category |
| $6,120 | 79 (tie), National Universities | |
| $11,025 | 168-222, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| $11,325 | 299-391, National Universities | |
| $11,398 | 168-222, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| $11,750 | 299-391, National Universities | |
| $12,500 | 36, Regional Colleges (West) | |
| $12,630 | 48 (tie), Regional Colleges (South) | |
| $13,014 | 42, Regional Colleges (South) | |
| $13,320 | 94-122, Regional Universities (West) | |
| $13,340 | 168-222, National Liberal Arts Colleges |
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U.S. 草莓传媒 surveyed more than 1,850 colleges and universities for our 2021 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. 草莓传媒’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. 草莓传媒 uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. 草莓传媒 will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data comes from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. 草莓传媒’ rankings of , or . The tuition and fees data above is correct as of Sept. 13, 2021.
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