With 1 US dollar equivalent to roughly INR 83, studying abroad can be a huge financial challenge, especially if one plans to enroll in one of the world’s best universities/colleges where the annual tuition fee could be as high as ₹52 lakhs.
If you add the annual cost of attendance (including tuition fee, accommodation, food, travel, insurance, etc.) it could touch a staggering ₹73 lakhs and above.
Here are 10 of the world’s most expensive universities/colleges.
Columbia University (New York, USA)
Founded in 1754 by King George II of Great Britain
Annual tuition fees: US$ 68,400 (Annual cost of attendance: Approximately US$ 89,587)
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rank: 23
Popular majors: Philosophy, Environmental Science, and English.
Notable alumni: Barack Obama, Warren Buffet, Alfred A Knopf, Julia Stiles, Timothée Chalamet, James Franco, Art Garfunkel and 11 billionaires to date.
Duke University (Durham, North Carolina, USA)
Founded in 1924, by James Buchanan Duke
Annual tuition fees: US$ 63,450 (Annual cost of attendance: Approximately US$ 83,263)
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rank: 57
Popular majors: Computer Science, Biological Sciences, Computer Engineering, Neurosciences, Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering
Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island)
Founded in 1764, by Nicholas, John, Joseph, and Moses Brown
Annual tuition fees: US$ 65,656 (Annual cost of attendance: Approximately US$ 87,648)
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rank: 73
Notable alumni: Includes Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize recipients, Supreme Court Justices, and Olympic medalists, most notably John F Kennedy, Emma Watson and John Krasinski.
Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut, USA)
Founded in 1701, by Samuel Andrew, Thomas Buckingham, Israel Chauncy & others
Annual tuition fees: US$ 64,700 (Annual cost of attendance: Approximately US$ 83,880)
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rank: 16
Popular majors: Economics, Political Science, History, Computer Science, Psychology, Global Affairs, and English
Notable alumni: 5 US Presidents, Meryl Streep, Angela Bassett, Anderson Cooper as well as 21 billionaires to date.
University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
Founded in 1209
Annual tuition fees: Between US$ 32,743.17 and US$ 84,898
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rank: 2
Popular majors: Mathematics, Physics, and Computer science
Notable alumni: Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, Robert Oppenheimer; alumni have collectively received 121 Nobel Prizes and produced 194 Olympic medal-winning athletes.
University of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
Founded in 1890 by John D. Rockefeller
Annual tuition fees: US$ 63,801 (Annual cost of attendance: Approximately USD$89,040)
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rank: 11
Popular majors: Economics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Biological Sciences, and Political Science
Notable alumni: Includes 99 Nobel laureates, 27 Pulitzer prize winners, 29 living billionaires, and 8 Olympic medalists; most notably astronomer Carl Sagan, writer Kurt Vonnegut, novelist Paul Goodman, and economist Milton Friedman.
Dartmouth College (Hanover, New Hampshire, USA)
Founded in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock
Annual tuition fees: US$ 63,684 (Annual cost of attendance: Approximately US$ 87,315)
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rank: 237
Schools: The Geisel School of Medicine is the nation’s fourth-oldest medical school; Thayer School of Engineering is among the nation’s first professional schools of engineering, and the Tuck School of Business is the world’s first graduate school of management.
Notable alumni: Poet Robert Frost, Game of Thrones showrunner David Benioff, Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Shonda Rhimes, actress Mindy Kaling. As of 2022, Dartmouth has produced 10 billionaires.
Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, California, USA)
Founded in 1955 by the friends and family of Harvey Seeley Mudd
Annual tuition fees: US$ 65,954 (Annual cost of attendance: Approximately US$ 89,115)
Popular majors: Computer Science and Mathematics, Engineering.
Notable alumni: Computer scientist Donald D. Chamberlin and astronaut Stanley G. Love.
NorthWestern University (Evanston, Illinois, USA)
Founded in 1851 by Grant Goodrich, John Evans, and others
Annual tuition fees: US$ 64,887 (Annual cost of attendance: Approximately US$ 91,290)
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rank: 47
Schools: Has 11 diverse schools including the Kellogg School of Management, the Pritzker School of Law, and the Feinberg School of Medicine
Notable alumni: Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, George RR Martin, David Schwimmer and Hugh Hefner
Tufts University (Medford, Massachusetts, USA)
Founded in 1852 by Charles Tufts
Annual tuition fees: US$ 66,358 (Annual cost of attendance: Approximately US$ 81,700)
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rank: 379
Popular majors: Economics, Biology, and International Relations
Notable alumni: Jessica Biel, Tracy Chapman, Shashi Tharoor, Oliver Platt, Pierre Omidyar, Daniel Patrick Moynihan
(Source: QS World University Ranking, Gitnux Market Data Report, U.S. News)