Wellesley College—an elite private liberal arts school in Massachusetts—may be the first higher ed institution in the U.S. whose cost of attendance exceeds $100,000. This total reflects the expected cost of attendance for the upcoming academic year, and includes $92,440 in direct costs (e.g., undergraduate tuition, housing, fees, and meal plans) and estimated indirect costs like textbooks, transportation, and an optional $4,051 student health insurance plan.
The grand total cost of attending the all-women’s college starting next fall? $100,541, which would make the school the most expensive college in the country.
This isn’t coming out of left field.
A number of other institutions have approached the six-figure cost of attendance in recent years, particularly highly selective, private institutions like Vanderbilt (whose engineering program costs roughly $98,000), the University of Chicago, the University of Southern California, Amherst College, and Tufts. [Forbes, subscription model]
This is also emblematic of the general college affordability crisis in the U.S. In 2023, the average cost of attending a public college rose to over $27,000; for private institutions, average costs reached nearly $59,000. While this means Wellesley and other similar schools are outliers, public perceptions of higher ed are shifting anyway. A growing number of Americans are questioning higher ed’s ROI or abandoning their college aspirations altogether in favor of short-term, job-focused credentials or other cheaper pathways.
Bryan Alexander, a senior scholar at Georgetown University, predicted that Wellesley would be among the first to exceed the $100,000 threshold in 2023 based on his personal research into rising college costs. When asked if this sets a precedent for other institutions, he said: “It depends on how people react. If there’s a national wave of revulsion… other expensive institutions might pause just short of six figures… On the other hand, if we accept the new pricing—or, indeed, appreciate it as necessary for luxury goods—then we’ll see more colleges and universities follow suit.”
Alexander also noted, however, that most students at (often elite) private institutions don’t pay full price. For Inside Higher Ed, Wellesley spokesperson Stacey Schmeidel gave the same justification; according to Schmeidel, indirect costs vary by student, and institutional financial aid often helps cover a significant portion of costs, but Wellesley “meets 100% of calculated need for all students.”
High-cost colleges discount tuition—for a lot of students.
The practice of tackling affordability challenges through institutional grants and scholarships is known as tuition discounting—and it’s on the rise. A study of private colleges by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) revealed that in the 2023-24 school year, the average tuition discount for full-time, first year students was 56.1% and 51.9% for undergraduates—both stats representing a new high. NACUBO’s president and CEO Kara Freeman shared in a statement that tuition discounting is a “key component” for enrollment and retention for private institutions.
At Wellesley, the budget for financial aid exceeds $84 million. Other well-endowed colleges—which are currently in the crosshairs of the Trump administration—have similar financial aid set ups. [CNBC]
So, at what point does college become too expensive, even with tuition discounting? Alexander says that the most affluent Americans will decide. “Some families pay full freight, in effect supporting the rest. When will those, the wealthiest families, decide that paying sticker price is too much?”
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