Top 100 U.S. Colleges, Ranked by Tuition
Attending a good school in the U.S. comes at a price.
Since 1985, college tuition has risen by roughly 500%, vastly outpacing almost all other increases in the cost of living. Today, there are more than 4,000 colleges in the country, ranging from high-flying Ivy League institutions to more modest, practical schools.
This infographic from TitleMax shows the top 100 colleges in America based on the U.S. News Best National Universities list, ranked by tuition from highest to lowest.
College Tuition: The Top 20 Most Expensive
From $5,000 to over $60,000, the price of college tuition for top U.S. schools is wide-ranging.
Columbia University, with a price tag of $61,850 takes top spot. Based in Manhattan, New York it has a rich history of graduates and instructors, including investing legends Benjamin Graham and Joel Greenblatt.
Although Columbia has the highest tuition cost, the school covers financial need with a mix of grants and work-study, which means low-income students don’t have to take on any student loan debt. This means a student coming from a home with $60,000 or less of income won’t be expected to pay anything toward tuition. That said, getting into the school is the tricky part. Columbia only admits 6% of applicants.
| Rank | Name | Ivy League? | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbia University | 🌿 | $61,850 |
| 2 | University of Chicago | $59,298 | |
| 3 | Tufts University | $58,578 | |
| 4 | Brown University | 🌿 | $58,504 |
| 5 | Duke University | $58,198 | |
| 6 | University of Southern California | $58,195 | |
| 7 | Boston College | $57,190 | |
| 8 | University of Pennsylvania | 🌿 | $57,770 |
| 9 | Brandeis University | $57,561 | |
| 10 | Cornell University | 🌿 | $57,222 |
| 11 | Dartmouth College | 🌿 | $57,204 |
| 12 | Carnegie Mellon University | $57,119 | |
| 13 | George Washington University | $56,935 | |
| 14 | Tulane University | $56,800 | |
| 15 | Northwestern University | $56,691 | |
| 16 | Southern Methodist University | $56,560 | |
| 17 | Georgetown University | $56,058 | |
| 18 | University of Rochester | $56,026 | |
| 19 | Boston University | $55,892 | |
| 20 | Pepperdine University | $55,892 |
Following Columbia is the University of Chicago. Its Booth School of Business was ranked the top MBA program in the world, with graduates averaging $135,000 in median income after graduation.
What may be surprising is that venerated institutions such as Harvard and Princeton don’t appear in the top 20, in terms of average tuition.
College Tuition: The Top 20 Least Expensive
How about the other end of the tuition spectrum for top schools in the country?
| Rank | Tuition | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,790 | Brigham Young University (Provo) |
| 2 | $21,673 | Florida State University |
| 3 | $27,791 | Binghamton University (SUNY) |
| 4 | $27,850 | University of Buffalo (SUNY) |
| 5 | $28,528 | Stony Brook University (SUNY) |
| 6 | $28,658 | University of Florida |
| 7 | $28,794 | Purdue University (West Laffayette) |
| 8 | $29,220 | North Carolina State University (Raleigh) |
| 9 | $31,120 | University of Georgia |
| 10 | $31,568 | University of Iowa |
| 11 | $32,061 | Ohio State University (Columbus) |
| 12 | $32,189 | Rutgers University (New Brunswick) |
| 13 | $32,750 | New Jersey Institute of Technology |
| 14 | $32,835 | Virginia Tech |
| 15 | $33,325 | University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) |
| 16 | $33,352 | University of Illinois (Urbana Champagne) |
| 17 | $33,746 | University of Pittsburgh |
| 18 | $33,794 | Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) |
| 19 | $34,307 | Miami University (Oxford) |
| 20 | $34,310 | University of Delaware |
With a tuition of $5,790 Brigham Young University (Provo) has the lowest of the top 100, by far. Based in Provo, Utah it is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The college restricts drinking coffee, alcoholic beverages, and other activities—requiring students to follow a strict honor code.
Also found on the list is the University of Florida and Purdue. Unsurprisingly, many public schools offer the most affordable college tuitions.
