Students that are interested in cutting costs while attending business school may find more value in targeting a public business program. Attending a private business school is an expensive endeavor: Students paid an average of $52,775 in tuition and required fees during the 2010-11 school year at the 10 most expensive private business schools, according to data provided to U.S. News in a 2010 survey.
In comparison, in-state students at the 10 most expensive public business schools paid an average of $34,698 annually, and out-of-state students at the 10 most expensive public business schools paid 43,488, on average.
All business schools among the top 10 most expensive private business programs charged more than $50,000 for tuition and fees in the 2010-11 academic year. That's the premium students must pay to attend a highly reputable program, as eight of the 10 most expensive private business schools, including the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Harvard Business School, are among the top 10 in U.S. News's rankings of Best Business Schools, and all 10 business schools are among the top 20.
[See the 10 least expensive private business schools.]
Only schools that reported the yearly cost of tuition and fees were included in this analysis. Private schools that provided tuition and fees data to U.S. News based on per-credit hour costs or overall costs for the entire length of the program were excluded. Also, business 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 supply U.S. News with enough key statistical data to be numerically ranked.
Below is a table of the 10 most expensive private business schools based on tuition and required fees (figures do not include room and board, books, and other miscellaneous costs):
| Business school | Tuition & fees (2010-11) | U.S. News b-school rank |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard University (MA) | $56,204 | 2 |
| Columbia University (NY) | $55,588 | 9 |
| University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | $54,009 | 3 |
| Stanford University (CA) | $53,118 | 1 |
| Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) (PA) | $52,500 | 18 |
| University of Chicago (Booth) | $51,680 | 5 |
| Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL) | $51,663 | 5 |
| Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH) | $51,000 | 7 |
| Yale University (CT) | $51,000 | 10 |
| Cornell University (Johnson) (NY) | $50,992 | 16 |
Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Business School Compass to find tuition data, salary information, and much more.
U.S. News surveyed more than 430 accredited master's programs for our 2010 survey of business schools. 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 U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Business Schools rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data comes from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News's rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools.
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