After a report by the Lumina Foundation discovered that students are delaying life events (getting married, buying a house, etc.) due to their student loans, the debate surrounding expensive college costs isn’t going anywhere. Better yet, more Americans are less eager to pursue a degree if they have to take out a loan.
Keen about America’s concerns, the financial technology company, Self, created a list of the 20 most expensive colleges that students can attend over four years. The institution in the No. 1 spot could cost prospective students more than half a million dollars
Something to keep in mind: As scary as these prices may seem, many of these universities don’t charge the full amount. Generous scholarship packages and a peculiar marketing tactic that artificially raises schools’ tuition prices make higher education more intimidating than suggested.
The most expensive colleges in the United States
Researchers aggregated data from College Tuition Compare, BLS’ Consumer Expenditure Survey, Numbeo and Zippia to calculate college tuition, fees, course materials and first-year on-campus rent, as well as city living costs and average monthly grocery expenditures per person.
| Rank | University | City | State | Total Cost for Four Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbia University | New York | N.Y. | $514,442 |
| 2 | New York University | New York | N.Y. | $497,402 |
| 3 | Georgetown University | Washington | D.C. | $472,817 |
| 4 | Harvard University | Cambridge | Mass. | $472,027 |
| 5 | California Institute of Technology | Pasadena | Calif. | $458,330 |
| 6 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Calif. | $457,650 |
| 7 | University of Chicago | Chicago | Ill. | $455,257 |
| 8 | George Washington University | Washington | D.C. | $454,377 |
| 9 | Yale University | New Haven | Conn. | $451,516 |
| 10 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge | Mass. | $441,948 |
To look at the full list, as well as the most affordable institutions, click here.
Columbia University president resigns
Nearly four months after a Congressional hearing on campus antisemitism, Minouche Shafik announced her immediate resignation, citing the abuse she and her family have endured.
Read University Business’ coverage here.
New funding formulas hit higher ed
Illinois has introduced a bill to transform how the state funds higher education, Northern Public Radio reports. Northern Illinois University President Lisa Freeman, who served on its task force, believes the bill’s backers have created a “data-driven” approach to funding that trumps the arbitrary, systemwide increases or decreases its public universities have been receiving.
“We need a funding formula that’s rational, that considers the size of the institution, the mission of the institution and the type of students that the institution serves,” Freeman told Public Radio. “Because all of those have a significant, direct impact on the money you have to provide students with the experience that they expect, need and deserve.”
The University Business Podcast: Why are student-athletes becoming ‘gladiators’?
Focusing on taking an institution’s mission into account, Freeman believes, will help some of the most under-resourced students across Illinois. This new funding strategy echoes a recently published report by The Brookings Institution aiming to help lawmakers build equity-centered state funding formulas. The public policy organization discovered that while states allocate $116 billion to their colleges and universities, there is little public data on how stakeholders determine how to apportion these funds.
Brookings suggests the following to states interested in improving equitable student outcomes through data-informed funding:
- The amount of state funding likely matters more than the funding formula for student outcomes.
- Policymakers must build equity into formulas.
AAUP gets vocal about activism and protests
The American Association of University Professors released two separate statements this week, taking an official position on campus protests and academic boycotts. On Monday, the AAUP stated they now support academic boycotts, believing that faculty members should be free to assess specific circumstances and participate if they feel encouraged to do so. The declaration reverses a previous stance made 24 years ago.
“[The] [c]committee… recognizes that when faculty members choose to support academic boycotts, they can legitimately seek to protect and advance the academic freedom and fundamental rights of colleagues and students who are living and working under circumstances that violate that freedom and one or more of those rights,” read the statement.
And on Wednesday, the nonprofit association officially condemned the wave of state and university policies intending to crack down on peaceful campus protests, including those spurred by the Israel-Hamas war. Indiana University recently ratified a new policy that prohibits “disruptive” outdoor protests without a permit, and Florida is aiming at passing a bill that suspends the financial aid of students found to support “foreign terrorist organizations.”
“At this critical moment, too many cowardly university leaders are responding to largely peaceful, outdoor protests by inviting law enforcement in riot gear to campus and condoning violent arrests,” writes AAUP.
Similarly, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni released guidelines on Tuesday to help colleges and universities fight greater “volatility, unrest and lawlessness” as encampments threaten to disrupt college campuses again this fall.
