The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or graduate school search.
Private colleges and public universities can vary widely when it comes to tuition and fees, but they do have one thing in common: The price for attending either one can be costly.
Lending to college students grew from $53 billion in 2001 to $120 billion in 2012, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as many undergrads gathered money to pay for their degrees.
[Save $90K in high school for college.]
In the 2015-2016 year, the average tuition and fees for students attending private four-year, nonprofit schools was $32,405; for in-state students at public schools it was $9,410, according to the College Board, which manages the SAT.
Attending a public school as an out-of-state student is often the middle ground for cost — these undergrads paid an average of $23,893 in tuition and fees for the 2015-2016 school year — but in some cases the price is just as much as, or more than, private school tuition.
At the University of Virginia, students who did not reside in the commonwealth were charged $43,822 in tuition and fees for the 2015-2016 school year. The school had the highest tuition and fees among 318 institutions that submitted data to U.S. News in an annual survey — just as it did for the previous school year.
[Know five strategies for appealing a college financial aid package.]
Among the 10 schools that charged out-of-state students the most, the average cost for tuition and fees was $39,285. For all schools, the average was $20,637.
Only one of the 10 was a National Liberal Arts College: Virginia Military Institute. National Liberal Arts Colleges award at least half of their degrees in liberal arts disciplines and have an emphasis on undergraduate education.
[Learn 10 student loan facts college graduates need to know.]
The following colleges had the highest tuition and fees for out-of-state students during the 2015-2016 school year. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School name (state) | 2015-2016 out-of-state tuition and fees | U.S. News rank and category |
| University of Virginia | $43,822 | 26, National Universities |
| University of California–Riverside | $40,973 | 121 (tie), National Universities |
| College of William and Mary (VA) | $40,516 | 34 (tie), National Universities |
| Virginia Military Institute | $39,550 | 82 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| University of California–Davis | $38,659 | 41 (tie), National Universities |
| University of California–Santa Barbara | $38,573 | 37 (tie), National Universities |
| University of California–Santa Cruz | $38,189 | 82 (tie), National Universities |
| University of California–Berkeley | $38,140 | 20, National Universities |
| University of California–San Diego | $38,066 | 39 (tie), National Universities |
| Michigan State University | $36,360 | 75 (tie), National Universities |
Don’t see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find tuition data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed nearly 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2015 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The tuition data above are correct as of May 10, 2016.
More from U.S. News
Watch Out for Front-Loaded Financial Aid Packages
New Student Loan Repayment Process May Help End Confusion
3 Lessons to Teach Mom and Dad About Paying for College
10 Costly Universities for Out-of-State Students originally appeared on usnews.com
