25 Most Expensive Colleges in America
Brace yourself, college costs are continuing to rise. Two years ago, five colleges smashed the $50,000 barrier, but today 100 
colleges are now charging $50,000 or more.
Using new College Board data, The Chronicle of Higher Education compiled a list of the nation's 100 most expensive colleges. You can find the complete list of the most expensive colleges on the newspaper's site, but here are the top 25 colleges and universities that have broken the $50,000 mark.
- Sarah Lawrence College.................$57,384
- Landmark College..........................$56,500
- Columbia U. School of Gen. Studies......$54,782
- Wesleyan University..............................$53,976
- Columbia University..............................$53,874
- Johns Hopkins University.......................$53,690
- Georgetown University..........................$53,591
- New York University..............................$53,589
- Harvey Mudd College............................$53,588
- Barnard College....................................$53,496
- Bard College.........................................$53,480
- Trinity College......................................$53,330
- Washington University, St. Louis...........$53,315
- Bates College.........................................$53,300
- University of Chicago..............................$53,244
- Claremont McKenna College...................$53,230
- Connecticut College................................$53,110
- Fordham University.................................$53,093
- Vassar College........................................$53,090
- Pitzer College..........................................$53,080
- George Washington University................$53,025
- Vanderbilt University...............................$53,000
- Haverford College....................................$52,970
- Stevens Inst. of Technology.....................$52,965
- Babson College........................................$52,916
Why We Should Care About Elite College's Obscene Prices
Since most students aren't going to attend these expensive colleges, you might wonder why you should care about escalating costs.If you're in that camp, I'd suggest that you read my recent college blog post on the dangers of unchecked college costs: Why America's Most Expensive Colleges Could Hurt Your Wallet. Here is an excerpt:
When Sarah Lawrence, Bard College, Trinity College, Bates College and Ivy League institutions that rank among the most expensive schools raise their prices it causes reverberations among thousands of other schools.
Schools lower on the academic pecking order judge themselves by what the country's most prestigious and expensive schools are doing. If the elites continue to construct amazing facilities, shrink class sizes and maybe even offer maid service, the wannabes won't want to be left behind. The wannabes know they can't catch up to the college superstars, but they are terrified of losing ground. So they will raise their prices too.
And that's why we should care about elite schools that are smashing price records every year.
Lynn O'Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution and she also writes for TheCollegeSolutionBlog.
Most expensive colleges image by hto2008. CC 2.0.
