Cut College Admission Fees
Students spent an estimated $470 million on application fees for undergraduate admissions in 2015, based on data from Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The IPEDS data shows a total of 10,055,109 applications for admission and a weighted average application fee of $46.70.
About half of application fee revenue, $229 million, is spent by students whose applications are rejected. If current trends continue, the total annual spending on application fees is in excess of half a billion dollars.
How to Cut Application Fee Costs
Students can reduce their application fee costs with these tips:
- Limit the number of applications submitted to reduce application and test score fees
- Seek application fee waivers if you are eligible
- Use free application platforms, such as the Cappex Application and Greenlight Scholars Application
Demographic Analysis of Application Fees
Additional insights from the IPEDS data include:
- $210 million in fees was from males and $259 million was from females
- $279 million in fee revenue went to public schools, an average of $434,376 per school
- $188 million in fee revenue went to private, nonprofit schools, averaging $156,451 per school
- Fee revenue received by private, for-profit colleges was $2 million
- Application fees from Pell Grant recipients was $138 million, or 29% of the total
- Application fees from minority students are about $153 million, or 33% of the total
- Application fees increased from $178 million in 2001 to $252 million in 2005 to $470 million in 2015
Selective Schools Charge Higher Application Fees
Schools that accept less than 20% of their applicants receive an average of $1.27 million per school, compared with $155,619 per school among those that accept 40% or more of applicants. The average application fees are $62.12 and $30.52, respectively.
This chart shows admissions fee revenue by selectivity, demonstrating that the most selective schools charge twice the application fees of less selective schools.
A similar result occurs with admissions test scores. Higher ACT test scores correlate with higher application fees and higher total application fee revenue.
The average application fee is $74.73 for schools with a 75th percentile ACT test score of 34 or more, compared with $30.62 for a 75th percentile ACT test score of 21 or less.
Top 25 Schools by Application Fee Revenue
This table shows the top 25 schools by total application fee revenue.
|
Institution |
Application Fee |
Fee Revenue |
|
University of California-Los Angeles |
$70 |
$6,488,300 |
|
University of California-Berkeley |
$70 |
$5,522,510 |
|
University of California-San Diego |
$70 |
$5,464,270 |
|
University of California-Irvine |
$70 |
$5,024,250 |
|
University of California-Santa Barbara |
$70 |
$4,937,520 |
|
University of California-Davis |
$70 |
$4,522,140 |
|
Boston University |
$80 |
$4,382,480 |
|
University of Southern California |
$80 |
$4,153,920 |
|
New York University |
$70 |
$4,040,890 |
|
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor |
$75 |
$3,884,775 |
|
Stanford University |
$90 |
$3,824,730 |
|
Northeastern University |
$75 |
$3,789,225 |
|
Cornell University |
$80 |
$3,352,000 |
|
San Diego State University |
$55 |
$3,247,805 |
|
California State University-Long Beach |
$55 |
$3,195,995 |
|
University of California-Santa Cruz |
$70 |
$3,187,240 |
|
The University of Texas at Austin |
$75 |
$3,179,400 |
|
Columbia University in the City of New York |
$85 |
$3,137,435 |
|
University of Massachusetts-Amherst |
$75 |
$3,009,750 |
|
Fordham University |
$70 |
$2,996,770 |
|
Harvard University |
$75 |
$2,798,025 |
|
University of Pennsylvania |
$75 |
$2,795,100 |
|
Purdue University-Main Campus |
$60 |
$2,715,840 |
|
University of California-Riverside |
$70 |
$2,695,770 |
|
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus |
$50 |
$2,673,600 |
This table shows the top 25 public schools by total application fee revenue.
|
Institution |
Application Fee |
Fee Revenue |
|
University of California-Los Angeles |
$70 |
$6,488,300 |
|
University of California-Berkeley |
$70 |
$5,522,510 |
|
University of California-San Diego |
$70 |
$5,464,270 |
|
University of California-Irvine |
$70 |
$5,024,250 |
|
University of California-Santa Barbara |
$70 |
$4,937,520 |
|
University of California-Davis |
$70 |
$4,522,140 |
|
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor |
$75 |
$3,884,775 |
|
San Diego State University |
$55 |
$3,247,805 |
|
California State University-Long Beach |
$55 |
$3,195,995 |
|
University of California-Santa Cruz |
$70 |
$3,187,240 |
|
The University of Texas at Austin |
$75 |
$3,179,400 |
|
University of Massachusetts-Amherst |
$75 |
$3,009,750 |
|
Purdue University-Main Campus |
$60 |
$2,715,840 |
|
University of California-Riverside |
$70 |
$2,695,770 |
|
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus |
$50 |
$2,673,600 |
|
University of Washington-Seattle Campus |
$70 |
$2,578,800 |
|
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo |
$55 |
$2,575,100 |
|
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities |
$55 |
$2,539,075 |
|
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
$80 |
$2,491,440 |
|
Texas A&M University-College Station |
$75 |
$2,490,975 |
|
University of Connecticut |
$70 |
$2,448,460 |
|
Ohio State University-Main Campus |
$60 |
$2,414,400 |
|
California State University-Fullerton |
$55 |
$2,301,255 |
|
Rutgers University-New Brunswick |
$65 |
$2,297,100 |
|
University of Virginia-Main Campus |
$70 |
$2,158,800 |
Lastly, this table shows the top 25 private schools by total application fee revenue.
|
Institution |
Application Fee |
Fee Revenue |
|
Boston University |
$80 |
$4,382,480 |
|
University of Southern California |
$80 |
$4,153,920 |
|
New York University |
$70 |
$4,040,890 |
|
Stanford University |
$90 |
$3,824,730 |
|
Northeastern University |
$75 |
$3,789,225 |
|
Cornell University |
$80 |
$3,352,000 |
|
Columbia University-New York |
$85 |
$3,137,435 |
|
Fordham University |
$70 |
$2,996,770 |
|
Harvard University |
$75 |
$2,798,025 |
|
University of Pennsylvania |
$75 |
$2,795,100 |
|
Duke University |
$85 |
$2,653,700 |
|
Syracuse University |
$75 |
$2,494,050 |
|
Yale University |
$80 |
$2,418,880 |
|
Northwestern University |
$75 |
$2,409,150 |
|
University of Miami |
$70 |
$2,339,330 |
|
Brown University |
$75 |
$2,279,700 |
|
University of Chicago |
$75 |
$2,255,175 |
|
Washington University in St Louis |
$75 |
$2,194,425 |
|
Boston College |
$70 |
$2,064,020 |
|
Hofstra University |
$70 |
$1,959,370 |
|
Liberty University |
$40 |
$1,957,440 |
|
St. John's University-New York |
$50 |
$1,804,300 |
|
Johns Hopkins University |
$70 |
$1,783,180 |
|
Princeton University |
$65 |
$1,773,850 |
|
Dartmouth College |
$80 |
$1,640,560 |