In the world of higher education, money is a big deal. And for colleges and universities, one of the primary ways to bring in revenue is through application fees. There are a number of different schools around the country that are making the most money from these fees. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, these institutions rake in an average of $41,752 per year.
Some of the schools on this list include Harvard University, Yale University, and Stanford University. In fact, these three schools brought in a combined total of more than $143 million from application fees in 2016 alone.
LendEDU’s compared how much universities charge students per application they applied to their school. So why are colleges able to charge so much for an application? For one, there is a lot of competition for admission into top-tier schools. And with more students applying each year, the schools can afford to be a bit more selective and charge more for their services.
Colleges Making the Most Money From Application Fees
10. University of Michigan- Ann Arbor
Total applicants: 55,504
Fee: $75
Total fee revenue: $4.2 million
9. New York University
Total applicants: 60,724
Fee: $85
Total fee revenue: $4.3 million
8. University of Southern California
Total applicants: 54,280
Fee: $85
Total fee revenue: $4.3 million
7. Boston University
Total applicants: 57,441
Fee: $80
Total fee revenue: $4.6 million
6. University of California—Davis
Total applicants: 68,553
Fee: $70
Total fee revenue: $4.8 million
5.University of California—Santa Barbara
Total applicants: 77,112
Fee: $70
Total fee revenue: $5.4 million
4. University of California—Irvine
Total applicants: 77,816
Fee: $105
Total fee revenue: $5.4 million
3. University of California—Berkeley
Total applicants: 82,561
Fee: $70
Total fee revenue: $5.8 million
2. University of California—San Diego
Total applicants: 84,208
Fee: $70
Total fee revenue: $5.9 million
1. University of California—Los Angeles
Total applicants: 97,112
Fee: $70
Total fee revenue: $6.8 million
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