The Most Expensive College in Every State

Colleges in Hawaii are generally expensive, with the cheapest annual net price at nearly $12,000. Nationwide, public colleges cost less than $10,000 per year on average and private schools cost just over $19,000 annually. Hawaii Pacific University stands out as the most expensive of the seven colleges in the state with an average net price of over $27,000 among students who receive financial aid.

The private college in downtown Honolulu accepts nearly three-quarters of prospective students who apply.

Boise Bible College is one of a number of religious institutions that rank as the most expensive higher learning institution in their state. The school offers students a number of Christian-focused degree programs like Biblical studies, family and youth ministry, spiritual formation, and Christian psychology. It is one of three Idaho colleges with an annual net price over $20,000.

Boise Bible College is one of the smallest colleges on this list, with just under 100 students in the 2019-2020 school year.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of just a handful of four-year colleges in America with an annual net price for students who receive tuition or grant aid of over $50,000 — more than $13,000 higher than any other school in Illinois.

According to U.S. News and World Reports, SAIC ranks as one of the country’s three best fine arts schools.

The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is a private college in Terre Haute, Indiana, that specializes in educating students in STEM fields, particularly engineering. The annual net cost of attendance — including room, board, tuition, and textbooks and minus any financial aid — among students receiving aid is the highest of any Indiana college by more than $5,000.

Though Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology admits nearly three-quarters of applicants, its students tend to be among the top in standardized test scorers in the state, and even the country. Students score on average 1375 combined on the math and reading SAT test and a composite 31 on the ACT — both among the top 100 in the nation among qualified schools.

Just 60% of enrolled students at Clarke University receive some form of grant or tuition aid. This is the lowest share out of 31 four-year colleges in the state. Even those students receiving aid pay an annual net price of $34,424, the highest of any Iowa school.

The private Catholic school has a relatively high acceptance rate, at 93.9%.