The 25 most expensive colleges in the US in 2025, ranked
Tech Insider
A person walks by the Trojan Shrine at University of Southern California in Los Angeles
Reuters
Tuition at private US colleges is on the rise, reaching an average annual cost of $43,350 in 2024.
The yearly cost of attending some private colleges and universities is nearly six-figures.
The University of Southern California's tuition and fees are the most expensive, at $75,162.
While some Americans are pushing back on higher education, others are coughing up more money than ever to attend some of the nation's most prestigious colleges.
Last year, the College Board reported that the average price of tuition and fees for undergraduate students at private nonprofit four-year institutions was $43,350 for the 2024-2025 school year, while the average price at a public four-year in-state school was $11,610.
That's just the start, however. When including the costs of housing and food, full-time students who live on-campus at private four-year universities and colleges pay $58,600 a year. Adding the costs of books, transportation, and additional expenses increases that number to an average of $62,990, the College Board reported.
We've listed the most expensive colleges in the US, from small liberal arts schools to Ivy League universities.
We ranked them based on the annual cost of tuition and fees.
We also included the estimated cost of housing and food listed by each school, although this total is not factored in to the ranking because it can often look different for students who live at home with family or in off-campus housing.
