The total annual cost of tuition and fees at four-year American colleges and universities has more than tripled over the past 60 years, from an average of $5,369 annually in 1963 to $17,709 in 2023, according to the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics.
Tuition, however, is not the only cost. Over four years, the total bill can even reach $500,000 or more, as estimated for Columbia University, according to Self Financial.
A large portion of that total comes from the cost of tuition itself, which Columbia clocks in at $89,587 per year. Although this price includes on-campus housing and the meal plan, students who choose to live off-campus or participate in the notoriously expensive New York City life can easily rack up extra costs.
Self Financial reviewed all colleges and universities included in the U.S. National College Rankings. News & World Report to identify the most expensive schools to earn your degree from. The fintech firm calculated tuition and fees for each school along with cost-of-living data, such as the average food expenditure from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the average local rent, as well as other self-reported cost-of-living data collected by Numbeo.
According to CNBC, these are the 10 universities with the highest total four-year costs.
Columbia University, New York
Total cost: $514,442
New York University, New York
Total cost: $497,402
Georgetown University, Washington
Total cost: $472,817
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Total cost: $472,027
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
Total cost: $458,330
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Total cost: $457,650
University of Chicago, Chicago
Total cost: $455,257
George Washington University, Washington
Total cost: $454,377
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Total cost: $451,516
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Total cost: $441,948
The actual cost of attending can vary greatly depending on the school one attends, the financial aid they may be eligible for, and a number of other factors such as whether they live on campus, have a car, and more.
