The Most Expensive Colleges by Sticker Price
Full published cost of attendance — tuition, fees, housing, books and living costs — before any aid is applied.
Ranked by annual cost of attendance · 1,643 of 2,406 institutions report this measure · Compiled 2026-09-01
Chase these schools
Top schools on this list that also show up elsewhere — hop lists without leaving the trail.
#1
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
#2
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
#3
Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY
- 1Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL · Private$87,804Compare nearby
- 2University of ChicagoChicago, IL · Private$86,856Compare nearby
- 3Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York, NY · Private$86,042Compare nearby
Also on 14 other lists
- the Highest ACT Scores#4
- Most Selective Colleges in America#4
- Foreign Languages#5
- the Highest SAT Averages#8
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#9
- History#16
- Mathematics & Statistics#16
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#18
- Area & Ethnic Studies#19
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#21
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#25
- Computer Science#25
- Social Sciences#25
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#25
- 4University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA · Private$85,738Compare nearby
Also on 15 other lists
- Philosophy & Religious Studies#2
- Communications#4
- Mathematics & Statistics#4
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#5
- Multidisciplinary Studies#5
- Business#9
- History#10
- the Highest SAT Averages#11
- Most Selective Colleges in America#11
- Graduates Earn the Most 10 Years Out#12
- Engineering#12
- Best Early-Career Earnings, 6 Years After Enrolling#17
- Computer Science#18
- Are Least Likely to Leave#20
- Social Sciences#22
- 5Pepperdine UniversityMalibu, CA · Private$85,202Compare nearby
- 6Wesleyan UniversityMiddletown, CT · Private$85,172Compare nearby
- 7Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT · Private$85,120Compare nearby
Also on 13 other lists
- History#1
- English Language & Literature#5
- Most Selective Colleges in America#5
- Highest Four-Year Graduation Rates#7
- Computer Science#9
- Social Sciences#9
- Multidisciplinary Studies#10
- the Highest ACT Scores#11
- Are Least Likely to Leave#15
- the Highest SAT Averages#15
- Best Student-to-Faculty Ratios#16
- Best Earnings-to-Debt Ratio#17
- Psychology#24
- 8Brown UniversityProvidence, RI · Private$84,986Compare nearby
- 9Harvey Mudd CollegeClaremont, CA · Private$84,896Compare nearby
- 10Georgetown UniversityWashington, DC · Private$84,696Compare nearby
- 11University of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA · Private$84,678Compare nearby
- 12Haverford CollegeHaverford, PA · Private$84,605Compare nearby
- 13Tufts UniversityMedford, MA · Private$84,600Compare nearby
- 14Vanderbilt UniversityNashville, TN · Private$84,412Compare nearby
- 15Oberlin CollegeOberlin, OH · Private$84,230Compare nearby
- 16Barnard CollegeNew York, NY · Private$84,023Compare nearby
- 17Dartmouth CollegeHanover, NH · Private$83,802Compare nearby
Also on 11 other lists
- 18Kenyon CollegeGambier, OH · Private$83,800Compare nearby
- 19Tulane University of LouisianaNew Orleans, LA · Private$83,761Compare nearby
- 20Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, MA · Private$83,683Compare nearby
- 21Amherst CollegeAmherst, MA · Private$83,650Compare nearby
- 22Colgate UniversityHamilton, NY · Private$83,650Compare nearby
- 23California Institute of TechnologyPasadena, CA · Private$83,598Compare nearby
- 24Vassar CollegePoughkeepsie, NY · Private$83,573Compare nearby
- 25Washington University in St LouisSaint Louis, MO · Private$83,476Compare nearby
How this list was built
- Measure
- Annual cost of attendance — sorted highest to lowest
- Source variable
COSTT4_A- Dataset
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most-Recent-Cohorts-Institution (05-19-2025 release)
- Four-year, main-campus institutions awarding bachelor's degrees or higher (2,406 schools).
- Institutions enrolling fewer than 500 undergraduates are excluded so that small-cohort medians do not distort the ranking.
- 1,643 of 2,406 institutions report this measure; the rest are omitted rather than estimated.
A single measure is a narrow way to judge a college. Read this alongside the others, and see the methodology for what these figures do and do not capture.
Keep exploring
- Re-rank with your weightsTune affordability, earnings, and fit yourself
- Showdown: Northwestern University vs University of ChicagoHigher-or-lower on Scorecard metrics — round 1 is these two
- Live leaderboardReshuffle Top 10–50 on one Scorecard measure
- Explore games & mapsShowdown, Name That College, sports, and more lists
- Sports at Northwestern UniversityEADA programs for the #1 school on this list
Keep going
Highest Average Net Price
What students actually pay after grant aid, averaged across aided undergraduates — not the sticker price. The other end of the affordability list.
Lowest Average Net Price
What students actually pay after grant aid, averaged across aided undergraduates — not the sticker price.
Best Earnings Return per Dollar of Cost
Ten-year median earnings divided by annual cost of attendance. A blunt ratio of two published figures, not a return-on-investment model.