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Real costs by region · Northeast · families earning $30,000–$48,000

25 Northeast colleges under $5,000 a year — if you earn $30,000–$48,000.

Across 197 Northeast colleges, families earning $30,000–$48,000 paid between $93 and $52,812 a year. The 25 cheapest are all under $5,000 — and 14 of them are private.

SchoolTypeAdmitSticker / yrThis band paidPaid
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPrivate5%$82,730$93
Dartmouth CollegePrivate5%$87,793$489
Colby CollegePrivate7%$85,420$1,251
Amherst CollegePrivate9%$87,640$1,570
CUNY Hunter CollegePublic54%$13,905$1,935
Brown UniversityPrivate5%$87,648$2,031
CUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegePublic48%$14,170$2,052
Columbia University in the City of New YorkPrivate4%$89,472$2,275
CUNY Brooklyn CollegePublic58%$14,151$2,287
CUNY Lehman CollegePublic57%$14,121$2,374
Northeastern UniversityPrivate5%$84,641$2,436
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal JusticePublic57%$14,212$2,506
Colgate UniversityPrivate14%$87,070$2,678
Bowdoin CollegePrivate7%$85,100$2,800
Wellesley CollegePrivate14%$86,290$2,836
CUNY City CollegePublic60%$14,403$2,990
Harvard UniversityPrivate4%$85,540$2,991
CUNY Queens CollegePublic64%$14,367$3,133
Wesleyan UniversityPrivate16%$89,020$3,604
Smith CollegePrivate21%$86,030$3,737
Cornell UniversityPrivate9%$88,140$4,070
CUNY York CollegePublic64%$14,330$4,161
College of Staten Island CUNYPublic92%$14,795$4,473
University of Maine at Presque IslePublic100%$19,113$4,492
CUNY New York City College of TechnologyPublic80%$14,110$4,606

"Paid" is the average net price reported to the U.S. Department of Education for aided families at $30,000–$48,000 household income — planning data, not an offer. Public colleges show in-state prices; out-of-state families typically pay more. Colleges enrolling fewer than 1,000 students are excluded, because federal price cells at very small schools are volatile enough to manufacture patterns that disappear at scale. A low price and a low admit rate are different things — the admit column is there so the two are never confused.

Same region, different income

under $30,000 · $48,000–$75,000 · $75,000–$110,000 · over $110,000

Same income, different region

Mid-Atlantic · Southeast · Midwest · Southwest · West

State by state

Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · New York

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