It was perhaps inevitable, but tuitions and related expenses this fall at some 16 institutions of higher education have now finally topped the $100,000 mark.
In numbers put together by the publication Princeton Review, it is noted that some of the most exclusive private schools, as well as several public ones, now cost over $100,000. At the same time, several schools such as Brown University in Rhode Island and Pepperdine University in California are coming in at just over $99,000.
In an interview with the network CNBC, Jeff Selingo, author of the book Dream School, has predicted that now that the $100,000 benchmark has been breached, other schools are bound to follow. “We just keep going up and it just never stops.”
The most expensive school as of this fall is the Harvey Mudd College in California, at $104,512; followed by Duke University in North Carolina at $103,975; and the University of Chicago at $103,821.
Those flirting with the $100,000 figure include Rice University in Texas at $97,309; Southern Methodist University, also in Texas, at $96,388; and George Washington University in the District of Columbia at $95,155.
As an example of how the higher education price tag has grown, the tuition at Havey Mudd College in 2016 stood at $52, 388; while Duke University came in at $49, 575.
An extended version of the Princetown Review’s findings is expected to be released in August.
By contrast, according to the most recent statistics, the largest university in Arizona, Arizona State University, tops out this fall at $35,700; Colorado’s largest university, the University of Colorado at Boulder, costs just over $45,000; and the University of New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment’s largest university, is expected to be just south of $35,000.
July 20, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Image courtesy of Pixabay
