Holding true to the Higher Education Opportunity Act legislation, the Department of Education has started it’s own ranking system for colleges and universities. It is called the College Affordability and Transparency List (or CATL for short).

The government has always asked colleges and universities to report statistical data (including costs) every year through the IPEDS survey (Integrated Post-secondary Education Data System) but this is the first year that the financial data will be made widely available for families to sort through, compare, and contrast based upon specific criteria.

The purpose of this list is aimed at highlighting the schools that have the highest prices AND the highest rate of price increases. Schools at the top of this list for the three year period preceding the release of this list will be required to submit additional reports to the Secretary of Education. From what I understand, over 500 colleges will be required to execute the additional reporting piece this year.

The statistics of the data being presented are a little shocking (maybe even mind-numbing) but numbers don’t lie and usually speak for themselves.  Should you use this data to help you in your college search process? Maybe, but I would probably advise against it. These numbers are already a couple years old and since they provide a statistical average, your individual financial outlook at one of these colleges may actually be better or worse than the average.

Below are a few different categories that I pulled from the CATL report. If you would like to play around with the data and run your own reports or check out your favorite college or university to see where it stands amongst the others, click here to give it a whirl.

4-year Private Schools With The Highest Percentage Increase In Tuition From 2008-2010

Institution

State

2007-08

2009-10

% Increase

4-year Public Schools With The Highest Percentage Increase In Tuition From 2008-2010

Institution

State

2007-08

2009-10

% Increase

4-year Private Schools With The Highest Net Tuition Price (after financial aid)

Institution

State

Net Price(1)

4-year Public Schools With The Highest Net Tuition Price (after financial aid)

Institution

State

Net Price(1)(2)

4-year Private Schools With The Lowest Net Tuition Price (after financial aid)

Institution

State

Net Price(1)

4-year Public Schools With The Lowest Net Tuition Price (after financial aid)

Institution

State

Net Price(1)(2)