The 50 most expensive colleges in America

Tuition at both public and private schools continues to rise at a fast clip, and Americans collectively owe more than $1.3 trillion in student loan debt.

Using data from the College Board's Trends in College Pricing and The Chronicle of Higher Education's helpful interactive chart, Business Insider rounded up the most expensive colleges in America. The ranking uses tuition data from the 2016-17 academic year and looks at each school's full sticker price - published tuition and required fees, as well as room and board - rather than tuition numbers alone.

Harvey Mudd College earned the top spot with a total cost of $69,717, but it's high price wasn't an outlier. Every school on the list holds a price tag well over $60,000, with the most expensive schools coming in closer to $70,000.

Read on to see how much it costs to go to the most expensive schools in the US, if you're paying full sticker price.