College graduates today face a dismal job market and often carry with them thousands of dollars in student loan debt. And yet, the price tag for a year's worth of study at America's most-expensive colleges is close to $60,000. Overall, tuition costs at private colleges are up 4.5% since last year.
For the 2010-11 school year, Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., charges undergraduates $57,556 for tuition, fees, room and board, making it the most-expensive school in the country. That doesn't include books, personal expenses or the $1,780 the school charges for accident and sickness insurance, which students must buy unless they have a waiver. About 65% of all Sarah Lawrence students receive financial aid to defray the costs.
Karen Lawrence, the college's president, defends the hefty price tag. "Unlike any other college, Sarah Lawrence requires individual, biweekly student-faculty meetings, as part of every seminar (approximately 94% of our classes)," she says via e-mail. "As a result, our students spend almost twice the time in one-on-one discussion with faculty as students at other prestigious liberal arts schools."
But large, well-known universities also rank among the country's priciest schools. For example, at Columbia University -- the most-expensive Ivy League university -- tuition and fees alone cost $43,815. Add another $10,572 for room and board, not to mention the high cost of living in New York City. The University of Chicago estimates that a year's study will cost $56,640. That includes books and personal expenses, but not health insurance ($2,220), which students must purchase if they don't already have it.
In compiling our list of most-expensive colleges and universities, we referenced data and surveys published by a variety of sources, including The Chronicle of Higher Education (which uses figures collected by the College Board) and CampusGrotto. We then compiled cost information published by the schools themselves for the 2010-11 school year. Our list reflects what freshmen entering any of these traditional four-year colleges and universities can expect to be billed for tuition, fees, room and board.
It does not include financial aid, and it's important to note that the sticker price of a college degree is often not what it actually costs to attend. In fact, many of America's most-expensive schools are generous with financial aid. Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif., costs about $53,600 to attend annually. But 80% of all students receive aid and 30% receive merit awards. Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., runs nearly $54,000 per year. The school, which this year has awarded aid packages ranging from $3,500 to $54,600, boasts on its website that it "meets the full demonstrated need of those who enroll." Bard College even offers a program that allows eligible students to pay tuition at a rate comparable to a public university in their home states.
Despite the high cost of attendance at many private schools, the recession and slow economic recovery don't seem to have affected enrollment. According to Tony Pals, a spokesman for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, "several private institutions nationwide are reporting record enrollments this fall, as was the case last year."
That's due to a few factors, he says, including a high rate of graduating high school seniors and efforts by private universities to keep costs low. Institutional grant aid increased 6.8% this year, compared with a 9% increase last year. Still, the association reports that the average cost of tuition and fees at private colleges has risen 4.5% since last year. While that's the second-lowest increase in 37 years (the lowest was a 4.3% increase between the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years), it's still tough to swallow amid price deflation in almost every other sector of the economy.
Worth noting: In August, Forbes completed its third annual survey of America's best colleges, which rates schools based on quality of education, student experience and professional success. Of those that made the top 25, only four also appear on our list of most-expensive schools: Columbia, Wesleyan, University of Chicago and Harvey Mudd.
This article was reported by Brian Wingfield for Forbes.com.
Published Oct. 6, 2010
