I recently stumbled across this handy tool from the Department of Education, which generates lists of colleges by cost. The schools that usually get dinged for high tuition (and as a result, scare off low-income applicants) are the elite colleges. But many of those schools are quite rich and distribute a lot of financial aid.
Here’s a list of the top 10 most expensive four-year private nonprofits, as determined by tuition sticker price:
| Institution | State | Tuition and required fees, 2011-12 |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | $45,290 |
| Sarah Lawrence College | NY | $45,212 |
| Vassar College | NY | $44,705 |
| George Washington University | DC | $44,148 |
| Trinity College | CT | $44,070 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | PA | $44,010 |
| Connecticut College | CT | $43,990 |
| Wesleyan University | CT | $43,974 |
| Bucknell University | PA | $43,866 |
| Bard College at Simon’s Rock | MA | $43,840 |
Now here’s a list of the top 10 most expensive four-year private nonprofits, after subtracting the average amount of government and institutional grant/scholarship aid at each institution:
| Institution | State | Percent receiving grant aid | Net price after scholarships and grant aid, 2010-11 |
| School of the Art Institute of Chicago | IL | 100 | $42,882 |
| Ringling College of Art and Design | FL | 77 | $40,222 |
| The Boston Conservatory | MA | 65 | $39,602 |
| Berklee College of Music | MA | 63 | $38,814 |
| California Institute of the Arts | CA | 77 | $38,802 |
| The New School | NY | 97 | $37,779 |
| Art Center College of Design | CA | 66 | $37,579 |
| San Francisco Art Institute | CA | 97 | $37,527 |
| New York University | NY | 55 | $36,834 |
| Beacon College | FL | 29 | $36,032 |
Notice something? There’s zero overlap between these two lists. Also, seven of the top 10 most expensive schools are arts schools or conservatories of some kind.
Some other observations:
• Half of the most expensive public four-year schools by net price are in Pennsylvania. (This is perhaps related to the fact that Pennsylvania slashed state and local appropriations per full-time equivalent student by 31.7 percent between fiscal years 2007-2012, and now has among the lowest appropriations per student among all states).
• Many of the least expensive private four-year nonprofits by net price have a religious affiliation or mission (Berea College, Family of Faith College, Bais Medrash Elyon, Hobe Sound Bible College).
• Some two-year public schools are really expensive! The net price — again, after taking into account grants and scholarships — for Florida Keys Community College is $22,933. On average two-year publics remain a pretty good deal though ($6,711 net price).
