scorecardHere's how much it costs to go to the 10 biggest colleges in the US
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Here's how much it costs to go to the 10 biggest colleges in the US

Cork Gaines,Madison Hoff   

Here's how much it costs to go to the 10 biggest colleges in the US
Business Insider looked at the cost of big universities, such as The Pennsylvania State University.Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
  • The average cost to attend the 10 largest US universities is over $17,000 a year.
  • The "college scorecard" by the US Department of Education shows the annual school costs.

The cost of attending a large university goes beyond tuition and other expenses, like a place to live, can vary wildly from city to city.

According to data assembled by the US Department of Education, the average cost to attend the 10 largest universities in the US is just over $17,000 a year, ranging from $6,200 to just under $29,000.

The large schools in this set come from several regions of the country, but four of the 10 are located in the southeast. What's more, Florida is home to two.

The US Department of Education's most recent "college scorecard," which helps prospective students compare schools based on different factors such as cost, admissions, completion, and post-graduate earnings, was updated in October and shows the average annual cost to attend schools nationwide. The most recent data covers costs from the 2020-2021 school year and enrollment in the 2021-22 year.

The average annual cost is the average net price for students for one academic year of study after applying scholarships and other forms of financial aid. The cost includes the average price of tuition, fees, books, and supplies, as well as living costs at the school.

Cost for public schools represents in-state students, the Department of Education said. Looking just at in-state tuition and required fees, the average among the 10 largest schools, which includes a private school, was about $12,400. For the nine public schools among this group, this average was around $11,250. The out-of-state tuition and required fees for those nine schools averages around $20,000 higher, at around $31,300.

For this analysis, we excluded schools where most undergraduate students attended online, as well as private for-profit schools. We also looked at schools that mainly grant bachelor's degrees or higher.

Below are the 10 largest universities in our analysis and their average annual cost.

Do you attend one of these schools or have experience with the cost of attending a large university? Contact this reporter at cgaines@businessinsider.com.

10. Kennesaw State University

10. Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University.      Lisa Marie Pane/AP

Location: Kennesaw, Georgia

Type: Public

Number of undergraduates: 37,743

Cost: $18,212

9. Michigan State University

9. Michigan State University
wellesenterprises/Getty Images

Location: East Lansing, Michigan

Type: Public

Number of undergraduates: 38,424

Cost: $10,925

8. Florida International University

8. Florida International University
CHUYN/Getty Images

Location: Miami, Florida

Type: Public

Number of undergraduates: 39,936

Cost: $6,232

7. The University of Texas at Austin

7. The University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas.      Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Location: Austin, Texas

Type: Public

Number of undergraduates: 40,506

Cost: $17,519

6. The Ohio State University

6. The Ohio State University
Ohio State University.      Shutterstock

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Type: Public

Number of undergraduates: 45,986

Cost: $18,623

5. Liberty University

5. Liberty University
Liberty University      Andrew Lichtenstein/Getty Images

Location: Lynchburg, Virginia

Type: Private

Number of undergraduates: 47,179

Cost: $28,561

4. Texas A&M University - College Station

4. Texas A&M University - College Station
Texas A&M University.      Tricia Daniels/Shutterstock

Location: College Station, Texas

Type: Public

Number of undergraduates: 56,006

Cost: $20,976

3. University of Central Florida

3. University of Central Florida
University of Central Florida      Public domain

Location: Orlando, Florida

Type: Public

Number of undergraduates: 59,710

Cost: $9,217

2. Arizona State University

2. Arizona State University
Arizona State University.      Tim Roberts Photography/Shutterstock

Location: Tempe, Arizona

Type: Public

Number of undergraduates: 64,216

Cost: $12,814

1. The Pennsylvania State University

1. The Pennsylvania State University
aimintang/Getty Images

Location: University Park, Pennsylvania

Type: Public

Number of undergraduates: 72,229

Cost: $27,521

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