America's Most Expensive Colleges and Universities

1. Sarah Lawrence College
(Bronxville, N.Y.)

Courtesy of Sarah Lawrence College

Annual cost: $57,556
Tuition and fees: $43,556
Room and board: $14,000

Located just northeast of New York City, Sarah Lawrence College is America's most expensive school for higher education. Without a waiver, students are charged an additional $1,780 for accident/sickness insurance (not included in our cost estimate). About 65% of SLC students receive financial aid.

2. Columbia University
(New York, N.Y.)

Courtesy of Columbia University

Annual cost: $54,385
Tuition and fees: $43,815
Room and board: $10,572

Columbia's tuition alone ($41,160) is already among the highest in the country, but incoming freshmen at the college also have to pay $2,655 in fees. Students also have to deal with the high cost of living in New York City. About half of all Columbia students receive grants to help pay for their education.

3. Bard College
(Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.)

Noah Sheldon/Bard College

Annual cost: $54,275
Tuition and fees: $42,465
Room and board: $11,810

Bard, in New York's Hudson River Valley, provides financial aid to 65% of its students. One program allows eligible students to pay tuition at a rate comparable to a public university in their home states. An affiliated school in Massachusetts, Bard College at Simon's Rock, is also expensive: $53,982 per year.

4. Wesleyan University
(Middletown, Conn.)

Courtesy of Wesleyan University

Annual cost: $53,976
Tuition and fees: $42,384
Room and board: $11,592
According to its website, Wesleyan, located on the Connecticut River, "meets the full demonstrated [financial aid] need of those who enroll." Those needs could be large, considering its annual cost. This academic year, the school offered aid packages ranging from $3,500 to $54,600.

5. Vanderbilt University
(Nashville, Tenn.)

Courtesy of Vanderbilt University

Annual cost: $53,660
Tuition and fees: $40,602
Room and board: $13,058

Including personal expenses and books, Vanderbilt estimates the cost of attendance for a first-year student to be $56,634. That doesn't include $1,500 for a laptop computer and $650 in lab fees, both required of engineering students. About 60% of undergrads at Vanderbilt receive financial aid.