Five Most Expensive Universities Revealed

The latest list in the annual roundup of expensive universities at which to study has just been released (in terms of tuition fees). There are some surprising choices and some not so surprising. Most of the top 20 are in and around London. Leeds Beckett came in at 15^th place and The University of Oxford came in at 6^th place – perhaps for such a prestigious institution, many expected it higher. Unsurprisingly, the top 5 were all in London.

5^th Place: London School of Economics

LSE charges £9,250 per year at present. The average cost to each student is £25,546. The cost though is justified through the institution's name. It's one of the premier economics colleges in the world. It’s always celebrated receiving high praise for the quality of its teaching and research. One interesting statistic is that 17% (that’s around one-sixth) of all Nobel Laureates have either studied or taught at LSE.

4^th Place: University College, London

The tuition fees are equal to that of LSE at £9,250 but the average total cost of studying at UCL is slightly higher at £25,664. It enjoys a larger number of postgraduate students than any other university institution. It’s also one of the world’s best-rated universities for research quality and standards. It claims to have fathered many modern democracies including Japan, Ghana and Nigeria.

3^rd Place: University of the Arts, London

Claiming to be one of the top universities in the world for art & design, UAL charges full £9,250 for tuitions fees with an average cost of study at £25,776. It has more than one campus and many separate colleges, spreading itself across the capital. It not only covers art and design but also performing arts and fashion. Its notable alumni include Samantha Cameron, Ralph Fiennes, Tim Roth and Jarvis Cocker.

2^nd Place: Royal College of Music, London

Another performance art college and despite its title, RCM doesn’t just teach music. It’s also a centre of excellence for music theory, history of music and other forms of performance art. Like the previous three, it charges £9,250 tuition fees with an average cost of £26,518. Its alumni include Andrew Lloyd Webber amongst its notable alumni. Also, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (the composer, not to be confused with the poet Samuel Taylor-Coleridge).

1^st Place: Regent’s University, London

With a staggering £16,400 tuition fee and an average cost of £38,854, Regent’s is by far and away the most expensive in the country. The reason is that it is one of just a handful of private universities in the UK (numbering just five). The government does not regulate its tuition fee rate and they can charge what they like. Established in 1984, it includes Lucy Beresford (writer and psychotherapist) and Ruby Wax amongst its alumni.