10 Colleges Where Students Pay the Most for Room and Board
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 and The Short List: Grad School to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.
When it comes to the cost of college, families should look beyond tuition and fees.
Room and board charges add an average $9,999 to students' university bills in 2014-2015, according to data reported by 1,109 ranked colleges in an annual survey by U.S. News. In this case, room and board is used to mean a shared room and either 19 meals per week or the maximum meal plan.
Students at the New School, based in New York City's Greenwich Village, paid the most for accommodations, which cost $18,190 this year.
[Get advice on paying for college.]
At the University of California--Berkeley, the sole public university on the list, room and board actually cost more than tuition and fees for in-state students. Lodging and meals cost $15,438; in-state tuition and fees run a more modest $13,844.
For those hoping to dodge high living costs, steer clear of New York City, the Boston area and major cities in California. Instead, check out Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma, which are home to schools that charge some of the lowest lodging fees.
[Discover the 10 colleges with the lowest room and board fees.]
Below is a list of the 10 schools with the most expensive room and board for 2014-2015. The five military academies, which charge no room and board fees, were excluded from this list. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
School name (state) | 2014-2015 room and board | U.S. News rank and category |
|---|---|---|
$18,190 | 135 (tie), National Universities | |
$16,782 | 32, National Universities | |
$16,390 | 145 (tie), National Universities | |
$15,833 | 15 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
$15,438 | 20, National Universities | |
$15,102 | RNP*, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
$15,096 | 14 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | |
$15,000 | 111 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | |
$15,000 | RNP, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
$14,950 | 19 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
* RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its ranking category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find room and board fees, 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 2014 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 or Best Graduate Schools . The tuition and fees data above are correct as of Dec. 23, 2014.
Susannah Snider is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering paying for college and graduate school. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at ssnider@usnews.com.
