10 Most Expensive Private Colleges

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Tuition and fees are often a huge factor in deciding which college to attend. Often, that cost is higher at private schools, compared to public schools. Attending a private school doesn't have to break the bank, though. Some private schools are less expensive than others, even cheaper than public schools in some instances, and students can always look to lower a college's sticker price and seek scholarships and loans.

[Check out tips on paying for college.]

But at the 10 most expensive private schools, students have enormous costs to cover with financial assistance. In data reported by 829 private colleges to U.S. News in a 2011 survey of undergraduate programs, the average total cost—which includes average cost of tuition and required fees for the 2011-2012 school year—is $27,340. Among the 10 most expensive private schools, the average is about $44,000.

Although that average cost is more than seven times the average cost of the 10 least expensive private schools, overall, students from these 10 pricier schools seemed to fare reasonably well, financially. Eight of the 10 most expensive private schools provided student indebtedness data to U.S. News, and of those schools, an average of 46 percent of 2010 graduates borrowed money from either the college itself, the government, or financial institutions. This percentage is notably lower than the overall average of 68 percent, which accounts for the 1,028 public and private schools that submitted indebtedness data to U.S. News.

[See the 10 schools with the least 2010 graduate debt.]

Two New York schools—Columbia University and Vassar College—top the list of the most expensive private schools, and 6 of the 10 are located in the Northeast. The only southern school on the list is Tulane University, located in Louisiana, which is also the only institution on the 2012 top 10 list that did not make the 2011 list of most expensive private schools.

Schools that were designated by U.S. News as Unranked were not considered for this report. U.S. News did not calculate a numerical ranking for Unranked programs because the program did not meet certain criteria that U.S. News requires to be numerically ranked.

Below is a list of the 10 private colleges that offer the most expensive tuition and fees (figures do not include room and board, books, and other miscellaneous costs):

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find tuition data, complete rankings, and much more.

U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2011 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported a myriad of data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News's data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While the data comes from the schools themselves, these lists have no influence over U.S. News's rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools.