National ranking · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Colleges with the Highest Tuition

Looking for colleges with the highest tuition? Using College Scorecard data retrieved March-July 2026, these operating campuses rank highest on published sticker tuition (out-of-state when reported, otherwise in-state) among colleges with at least 1,000 students. Sticker price is not what most students pay after aid - compare net price before treating tuition as cost.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$72,097
Highest published tuition: 100
Colleges ranked: $61,740
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this highest-tuition list publishes sticker tuition of $61,740 or more. University of Southern California tops the list at $72,097.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$72,097
#1 - University of Southern: $61,740
#100 cutoff on this list: 1,000+
enrollment required per school

Tuition is the published sticker field from College Scorecard; see methodology for vintage details.

University of Southern C…

$72,097
Columbia University in t…

$71,845
Kenyon College

$71,520
Brown University

$71,412
Vassar College

$71,030
Franklin and Marshall Co…

$70,794
Trinity College

$70,770
Colorado College

$70,734
Tufts University

$70,704
Boston College

$70,702
Haverford College

$70,688
University of Chicago

$70,662
Amherst College

$70,480
Wesleyan University

$70,342
Colgate University

$70,306

What this shows Private research universities and selective liberal-arts colleges dominate sticker tuition - endowment-funded aid often cuts the net price far below these figures.

Full ranking table

Filter by state, ownership sector, or minimum enrollment, then open any school profile for net price and program-level outcomes.

#	School Name	State	Published tuition	Enrollment
1	University of Southern California	CA	$72,097	20,443
2	Columbia University in the City of New York	NY	$71,845	8,973
3	Kenyon College	OH	$71,520	1,732
4	Brown University	RI	$71,412	7,226
5	Vassar College	NY	$71,030	2,444
6	Franklin and Marshall College	PA	$70,794	1,799
7	Trinity College	CT	$70,770	2,146
8	Colorado College	CO	$70,734	2,014
9	Tufts University	MA	$70,704	7,061
10	Boston College	MA	$70,702	10,085
11	Haverford College	PA	$70,688	1,430
12	University of Chicago	IL	$70,662	7,569
13	Amherst College	MA	$70,480	1,911
14	Wesleyan University	CT	$70,342	3,067
15	Colgate University	NY	$70,306	3,180
16	Pepperdine University	CA	$69,918	3,553
17	Barnard College	NY	$69,888	3,264
18	Colby College	ME	$69,600	2,407
19	Reed College	OR	$69,350	1,320
20	Cornell University	NY	$69,314	15,995
21	Union College	NY	$69,039	2,046
22	Hamilton College	NY	$68,960	2,030
23	Carleton College	MN	$68,892	2,086
24	Duke University	NC	$68,758	6,442
25	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$68,686	10,650
26	Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	$68,678	7,767
27	Williams College	MA	$68,560	2,076
28	Northwestern University	IL	$68,322	9,201
29	Dartmouth College	NH	$68,268	4,541
30	Grinnell College	IA	$68,106	1,729
31	Macalester College	MN	$68,104	2,131
32	Boston University	MA	$68,102	18,248
33	Brandeis University	MA	$68,080	3,618
34	Washington and Lee University	VA	$68,045	1,881
35	Georgetown University	DC	$68,017	7,569
36	Claremont McKenna College	CA	$67,980	1,388
37	Bowdoin College	ME	$67,832	1,873
38	Bucknell University	PA	$67,812	3,876
39	Villanova University	PA	$67,776	6,938
40	George Washington University	DC	$67,710	11,182
41	Wake Forest University	NC	$67,642	5,485
42	Middlebury College	VT	$67,600	2,738
43	Vanderbilt University	TN	$67,498	7,208
44	Oberlin College	OH	$67,366	2,887
45	Skidmore College	NY	$67,290	2,694
46	Yale University	CT	$67,250	6,758
47	Connecticut College	CT	$67,242	1,937
48	Wellesley College	MA	$67,176	2,300
49	University of Rochester	NY	$67,080	6,331
50	Southern Methodist University	TX	$67,040	7,277
51	Mount Holyoke College	MA	$67,018	2,169
52	Denison University	OH	$67,000	2,380
53	Sarah Lawrence College	NY	$66,862	1,530
54	Gettysburg College	PA	$66,640	2,099
55	Case Western Reserve University	OH	$66,608	6,437
56	Bates College	ME	$66,590	1,760
57	Bard College	NY	$66,436	2,414
58	Occidental College	CA	$66,274	1,877
59	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	$66,246	7,304
60	Northeastern University	MA	$66,162	17,326
61	Scripps College	CA	$65,950	1,113
62	Bryn Mawr College	PA	$65,920	1,359
63	Stanford University	CA	$65,910	7,554
64	St Lawrence University	NY	$65,900	1,918
65	Washington University in St Louis	MO	$65,790	7,857
66	Dickinson College	PA	$65,650	2,273
67	Syracuse University	NY	$65,528	15,477
68	Swarthmore College	PA	$65,494	1,613
69	Pomona College	CA	$65,420	1,666
70	Lafayette College	PA	$65,398	2,757
71	Johns Hopkins University	MD	$65,230	5,693
72	University of Richmond	VA	$65,230	2,980
73	Pitzer College	CA	$65,192	1,227
74	Smith College	MA	$65,178	2,544
75	Hobart William Smith Colleges	NY	$65,117	1,786
76	University of Notre Dame	IN	$65,025	8,818
77	Chapman University	CA	$64,984	7,478
78	Lehigh University	PA	$64,980	5,898
79	Fordham University	NY	$64,915	10,512
80	Lewis & Clark College	OR	$64,828	2,120
81	College of the Holy Cross	MA	$64,500	3,106
82	Davidson College	NC	$64,410	1,867
83	Emory University	GA	$64,280	7,298
84	Rice University	TX	$64,144	4,776
85	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	NY	$64,081	5,714
86	Whitman College	WA	$64,050	1,531
87	Wheaton College (Massachusetts)	MA	$63,960	1,773
88	Providence College	RI	$63,550	4,229
89	Stevens Institute of Technology	NJ	$63,462	4,222
90	University of Puget Sound	WA	$62,898	1,594
91	Muhlenberg College	PA	$62,805	1,727
92	New York University	NY	$62,796	28,663
93	Princeton University	NJ	$62,688	5,709
94	Rhode Island School of Design	RI	$62,688	2,084
95	University of Miami	FL	$62,616	12,913
96	Drexel University	PA	$62,412	13,233
97	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	$62,396	4,535
98	Loyola Marymount University	CA	$62,357	7,094
99	Pratt Institute-Main	NY	$61,845	3,910
100	Texas Christian University	TX	$61,740	11,026

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by published sticker tuition from College Scorecard (out-of-state when available, otherwise in-state). Only operating colleges with enrollment of at least 1,000 are included. For what students actually pay after aid, see our cheapest colleges list. See our methodology for source vintage.

Caveats and limitations

Sticker tuition is not the bill most families pay. Grants, scholarships, and tuition discounts mean net price is the better affordability signal.

For the opposite end of the sticker ladder, see colleges with the lowest tuition.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Use each school's net price calculator for a personalized estimate.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.