This Is the Best Bargain Among Elite Private Colleges

Harvard is … cheap?

Well, comparatively. The digital marketing agency Higher Visibility recently ranked which private educational institutions had the highest tuition fees, which they figured out by analyzing Niche’s 2022 ranking of the best private colleges in the U.S. and comparing those numbers to tuition rates documented by college price calculation site College Calc.

So while a $47,730 tuition doesn’t sound cheap, it is the lowest figure amongst the top 20 ranked private colleges. And that’s with Harvard as the second-highest school (education-wise) on the list. That said, there have been many arguments over the years suggesting Harvard shouldn’t charge any tuition at all.

Some other findings:

MIT, the highest-ranked private college, came in a modest 13th place when it came to tuition ($53,450).
Columbia University is the most expensive school, costing an annual $58,920. That’s without financial aid, of course (fun fact: the acceptance rate for getting into the NYC school is just 7%).
The state of California had the highest number of schools on the list with four.
Of the cheapest five institutions in the study, three are Ivy League schools; besides Harvard, Princeton University is at 16th place with an average tuition fee of $51,870, and University of Pennsylvania appears just below with $51,156.

Worst deal, in our opinion? Duke University at $55,880. Reason that’s so bad? You’re spending that much to go to Duke.