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 graduate school search.
With the growing cost of college, students and families may look at state schools as an option for paying less tuition.
Attending a public school as an out-of-state student is often a middle ground in terms of cost, usually priced less than a private school. For the 2016-2017 school year, the average tuition and fees for a student to attend a private college is $33,635; for an out-of-state student attending a public school, the average tuition and fees is $21,303, according to U.S. News data.
[Read three facts about aid and tuition for out-of-state students.]
But — in some cases — the price of attending a public school as an out-of-state student is much more than private school tuition.
At the University of Virginia, nonresidents are charged $45,066 in tuition and fees for the 2016-2017 school year compared with $15,722 for in state — a 187 percent cost difference. The school tops the list for the highest tuition for out-of-state students among the 335 ranked public institutions that submitted data to U.S. News in an annual survey.
Among the 10 schools that charged out-of-state students the most, the average cost for tuition and fees is $41,246. More than half of these schools are part of the University of California system, and three schools are in Virginia.
[Learn how out-of-state enrollment is rising at state flagship universities.]
New to the list this year is the University of Vermont, where out-of-state students fork over $40,364 in tuition and fees. Vermont wasn’t included in the list of most expensive public schools for out-of-state students last year because it didn’t provide these cost figures to U.S. News.
The University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, which appeared on the list last year, chose not to provide its tuition and fees for the 2016-2017 academic year. Michigan charged out-of-state students $43,476 for tuition and fees in 2015-2016.
The following 10 colleges and universities had the highest tuition and fees for out-of-state students during the 2016-2017 school year. 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) | 2016-2017 out-of-state tuition and fees | U.S. News rank and category |
| University of Virginia | $45,066 | 24 (tie), National Universities |
| Virginia Military Institute | $41,801 | 72 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| College of William and Mary (VA) | $41,718 | 32 (tie), National Universities |
| University of California–San Diego | $41,387 | 44 (tie), National Universities |
| University of California–Davis | $40,728 | 44 (tie), National Universities |
| University of California–Santa Barbara | $40,704 | 37 (tie), National Universities |
| University of Vermont | $40,364 | 92 (tie), National Universities |
| University of California–Riverside | $40,263 | 118 (tie), National Universities |
| University of California–Santa Cruz | $40,241 | 79 (tie), National Universities |
| University of California–Berkeley | $40,191 | 20 (tie), National Universities |
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 more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2016 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 and fees data above are correct as of Nov. 22, 2016.
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10 Most Expensive Schools for Out-of-State Students originally appeared on usnews.com