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    25 Most Expensive Colleges For 2008-2009

    By Ben Popken, 9:35 AM on Mon Oct 27 2008, 671,817 views

    Here are the 25 most expensive colleges for 2008-2009, based on total cost (tuition + room and board), as compiled by CampusGrotto.com. Whooie, this is some pricey book-learnin'.

    Highest Total Cost 2008-2009

    College | Total Cost
    1. Sarah Lawrence College | $53,166
    2. George Washington University | $50,312
    3. New York University | $50,182
    4. Georgetown University | $49,689
    5. Connecticut College | $49,385
    6. Bates College | $49,350
    7. Johns Hopkins University | $49,278
    8. Skidmore College | $49,266
    9. Scripps College | $49,236
    10. Middlebury College | $49,210
    11. Carnegie Mellon University | $49,200
    12. Boston College | $49,020
    13. Wesleyan University | $49,000
    14. Colgate University | $48,900
    15. Claremont McKenna College | $48,755
    16. Vassar College | $48,675
    17. Haverford College | $48,625
    18. University of Chicago | $48,588
    19. Union College (NY) | $48,552
    20. Colby College | $48,520
    21. Mount Holyoke College | $48,500
    22. Tufts University | $48,470
    23. Bard College at Simon's Rock | $48,460
    24. Franklin & Marshall College | $48,450
    25. Bard College | $48,438

    No thanks, I prefer my in-state tuition and debt-free-at-25 method of matriculation. But if you do have to go into debt, there's an educated way to go about. This post talks about how you to maximize the lower-interest, i.e. federal, ones first before you go into those private student loans. Incidentally, if you do get a federal student loan and you end up having a problem or question about it, the FSA ombudsman is a good place to start to get it resolved.

    However, if you, like many, get a private student loan, be sure to shop around first. Don't just go with the list of "preferred lenders" provided by your bursar's office. Sometimes, as State Attorneys General have discovered, banks and lenders will essentially pay colleges to get on those lists, and placement isn't for those with the best terms for students, but those with the best goodies for the administrators printing out those lists.

    Most Expensive Colleges for 2008-2009 [CampusGrotto] (Photo: Getty)

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