10 Most Expensive Public Schools for In-State Students

The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College and The Short List: Grad School to find data that matters to you in your college or grad school search.An in-state public college is often the least-expensive path to a bachelor's degree.

Resident tuition and required fees averaged just $8,539 for the 2013-2014 school year. That's compared to an average of $19,465 for out-of-state students and nearly $30,500 for those attending a private school, according to data reported by 1,110 ranked public and private universities in an annual U.S. News survey.

[See photos of the most expensive schools for out-of-state students.]

Staying close to home isn't always a bargain, though, especially if you live in Pennsylvania.

The University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania State University--University Park -- the state's two flagship institutions -- are the two most expensive public schools for in-state students.

In-state tuition and fees at Pitt were $17,100 for 2013-2014. Penn State was just slightly less expensive at almost $17,000. Pennsylvania College of Technology was also among the 10 most expensive colleges for in-state students with a sticker price of nearly $15,000.

[Find 10 ways to save on college costs.]

Three New England schools -- the University of New Hampshire, the Maine Maritime Academy and the University of Vermont -- also made the list of the 10 most expensive public schools for in-state students. Six of the 10 schools on the list ranked among the top 25 public schools in their respective ranking category, and five landed in the top 50 for public and private schools.

Resident tuition and required fees at these 10 colleges averaged close to $16,000 for the 2013-2014 school year -- nearly double the national average. At the other end of the spectrum, the sticker price at the 10 least expensive schools for in-state students averaged just $4,876 during that same time.

[Discover the least expensive public schools for in-state students.]

Below are the 10 colleges and universities with the highest tuition and fees for in-state students. The prices do not include room and board, books or living expenses. They also do not factor in any scholarships or grants a student might receive. Schools designated by U.S. News as Unranked were excluded from this list. U.S. News did not calculate a numerical ranking for Unranked programs because the program did not meet certain criteria that U.S. News requires to be numerically ranked.

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find tuition data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.

U.S. News surveyed nearly 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2013 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported a myriad of data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News's data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News's rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools. The tuition and fees data above are correct as of Feb. 4, 2014.