10 Most Expensive Private Business Schools
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Attending a top-ranked business school carries a hefty price tag.
The 10 costliest business programs charged nearly $62,000 on average for tuition and fees for the 2013-2014 school year, according to data reported to U.S. News by 39 ranked private business schools. That's an increase of about $3,000 over 2012-2013 and nearly $13,000 more than the average among all ranked schools.
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Harvard Business School, which tied for No. 1 in the U.S. News Best Business Schools rankings, led the pricey pack, charging $66,348 in tuition and fees for the 2013-2014 school year. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, also tied for the No. 1 rank, didn't fall far behind, with tuition and fees at nearly $65,000. Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, No. 9 in the rankings, charged $63,519, edging it into third place on the list of most expensive private business schools.
The East Coast is well represented on this list, claiming seven of the 10 b-schools. Just one, the business school at Stanford University, sits on the West Coast. The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago are located in the Midwest.
But sky-high costs don't dissuade students from flocking to these prestigious programs like moths to a $60,000 flame. Five of them fall among the 10 b-schools where accepted students are likely to enroll.
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On the opposite end of the cost spectrum is Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management. No. 27 in the business school rankings, it charged students tuition and fees of $22,560 for 2013-2014. Students who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints paid $11,280.
Below are the 10 most expensive private business schools, based on tuition and required fees for the 2013-2014 school year. Room and board, books and other miscellaneous costs are not included in these figures. 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) | Full-time 2013-2014 tuition and fees | U.S. News b-school rank |
|---|---|---|
Harvard University (MA) | $66,348 | 1 |
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | $64,828 | 1 |
Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH) | $63,519 | 9 |
Columbia University (NY) | $63,302 | 8 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) | $61,440 | 5 |
New York University (Stern) | $59,844 | 10 |
University of Chicago (Booth) | $59,753 | 4 |
Stanford University (CA) | $59,550 | 1 |
Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL) | $59,310 | 6 |
Yale University (CT) | $59,205 | 13 |
Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Business School Compass to find tuition prices, 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 453 schools for our 2013 survey of business 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 Business Schools 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 comes 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 data above are correct as of Aug. 19, 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.
