It Could Cost You $100K A Year To Attend This College In RI

RHODE ISLAND — One of the 30 most expensive colleges in the country is located in Rhode Island, according to a recent analysis.

More than half of the 30 most expensive colleges have tuition costs of more than $70,000 a year in the 2025-2026 academic year, according to the report from The College Investor, a personal finance website.

The costs represent tuition only, but room and board, and textbook costs, which the personal finance website could cause the costs to soar over $100,000 a year.

Nationally, the cost of a four-year bachelor’s degree is much lower — between $40,000 to $80,000 a year, depending on the major, The College Investor previously reported.

Rhode Island's one college to land on the list was Brown University, which came in as the 11th most expensive school in the United States, costing $71,700 per year. The private Ivy League school in Providence is one of the oldest colleges in the country and has about 7,000 undergraduates student enrolled across 80 disciplines. Tuition at Brown University rose almost 4.5 percent last year.

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Full list: 30 Most Expensive Schools

Below is the full list of the 30 most expensive U.S. colleges per The College Investor (tuition costs increased by an average of 4.5 percent from 2024 at the 30 colleges).

1. Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, $73,275, up 4.6 percent
2. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, $73,260, up 4.8 percent
3. Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, $73,206, up 4.75 percent
4. Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, $73,140, up 4.75 percent
5. Colorado College, Colorado Springs $73,038, up 4 percent
6. Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, $72,438, up 4 percent
7. Boston College, $72,180, up 4 percent
8. Tulane University, New Orleans, $71,997, up 4.8 percent
9. Kenyon College, Gambler, Ohio, $71,870, up 0.95 percent
10. Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, California $71,700, up 5.5 percent
11. Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, $71,700, up 4.5 percent
12. Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, $71,607, up 4.6 percent
13. Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, $71,266, up 4.2 percent
14. Columbia University, New York City, $70,170, up 4 percent**
15. Macalester College, Saint Paul, Minnesota, $70,632, up 4 percent
16. Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $70,556, up 3 percent **
17. Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, $70,120, up 4.5 percent
18. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, $70,265, up 6 percent
19. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, $69,900, up 3.9 percent
20. Boston University, $69,870, up 4.8 percent
21. Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania, $69,844, up 8.75 percent **
22. Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, $69,800, up 4.3 percent
23. George Washington University, Washington, D.C., $69,780, up 3.5 percent
24. Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York, $69,608, up 5 percent
25. Colby College, Waterville, Maine, $66,670, up 4 percent **
26. Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, $69,207, up 4.6 percent
27. Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, $69,146, up 4.2 percent
28. Pepperdine University, Malibu, California,$69,130, up 5 percent **
29. Reed College, Portland, Oregon, $69,040, up 7 percent **
30. University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, $69,030, up 4.8 percent

** Most recent data available for colleges that have not announced their 2025-2026 tuition rates.

Read more: Here’s How Much Tuition Costs At The 30 Most Expensive U.S. Colleges