10 Colleges With the Highest Tuition for In-State Students

The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.

When it comes to tuition, enrolling in an in-state college rather than a private institution is typically a way to save money. But some in-state schools have a higher price tag than others.

Among the 316 ranked public colleges that submitted these data to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average tuition was about $8,893 for the 2015-2016 academic year.

Consider [attending a tuition-free college.]

Meanwhile, the average among the 10 schools with the highest in-state tuition and fees was significantly higher at $16,536.

The University of Pittsburgh, tied for No. 66 among National Universities -- which offer a wide range of undergrad programs plus master's and doctoral degrees -- tops the list, as it did last year. The school had a total tuition and fees of $18,192 for 2015-2016, an increase from last year's $17,772.

Nine of the institutions on the list saw increases in total tuition and fees from last year, with the exception being the College of William and Mary. The school, tied at No. 34 among National Universities, saw a decrease to $16,919 in tuition and fees from last year's $17,656.

Discover [four strategies for surviving a college tuition increase.]

In addition, seven of the schools that made it onto the top 10 list this year were repeats from last year. The schools new to the list were the Pennsylvania College of Technology, Temple University and the University of Virginia.

Below are the most expensive public colleges for in-state students, based on tuition and required fees for the 2015-2016 academic year . These figures do not include room and board, books, transportation and other costs. They also do not factor in any scholarships or grants a student might receive. Schools designated by U.S. News as Unranked were excluded from this list. U.S. News did not calculate a numerical ranking for Unranked programs because the program did not meet certain criteria that U.S. News requires to be numerically ranked.

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find tuition data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.

U.S. News surveyed nearly 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2015 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The tuition data above are correct as of May 3, 2016.

Jordan Friedman is an online education editor at U.S. News. You can follow him on Twitter or email him at jfriedman@usnews.com.