Most Expensive Colleges 2012-2013

1. Sarah Lawrence College
Total Cost: $61,236 
Tuition: $45,900 
Room & Board: $14,312 
Fees: $1,024 

The official seal of Sarah Lawrence, a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, N.Y., carries the motto “Wisdom with understanding.” Notable alumni include Barbara Walters, Yoko Ono and Rahm Emanuel. 

At $61,236, Sarah Lawrence is the most expensive college in the United States, as it was last year and has been since Campus Grotto’s 2008-2009 roundup.

2. New York University
Total Cost: $59,837 
Tuition: $40,878 
Room & Board: $16,133 
Fees: $2,826 

NYU, a research university based in Greenwich Village, is one of the largest private universities in the United States, not counting its satellite campuses all over the world, including Washington, D.C., Shanghai and Abu Dhabi. 

Aside from charges for tuition and room and board, NYU’s total cost includes almost $900 in nonreturnable registration fees. Its total cost is just $163 shy of $60,000.

3. Harvey Mudd College
Total Cost: $58,913 
Tuition: $44,159 
Room & Board: $14,471 
Fees: $283 

Harvey Mudd is one of the seven schools that make up the Claremont Colleges consortium, which also includes Claremont McKenna, with which Harvey Mudd shares such resources as health services and libraries. 

The total cost for the 2012-2013 academic year is $58,913, jumping Mudd from fourth place on Campus Grotto’s list to third, thanks to an increase of $2,915. The school offers the cash-strapped an average financial aid award of $29,000.

4. Columbia University
Total Cost: $58,742 
Tuition: $45,028 
Room & Board: $11,496 
Fees: $2,218 

New York City’s entrant in the Ivy League, Columbia is also the oldest college in the state, predating the publication of Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital” and — by 22 years — the birth of the United States. It is also the alma mater of three U.S. presidents, one Supreme Court justice and one CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. 

Despite an increase of $2,432 last year, Columbia’s overall place this year fell a notch from No. 3 to No. 4.

5. Wesleyan University
Total Cost: $58,202 
Tuition: $45,358 
Room & Board: $12,574 
Fees: $270 

Wesleyan, in Middletown, Conn., occupied the No. 7 slot on Campus Grotto’s list last year. This year its total cost rose by almost $3,000, placing it at No. 5. 

A large number of Wesleyan grads go on to earn Ph.D.s. According to a 2005 study conducted by Swarthmore College, Wesleyan had the second-highest number of liberal arts college graduates to be awarded doctorates, bested only by Oberlin College in Ohio.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/most-expensive-colleges-2012-2013.html