2026 Expensive Online Colleges Rankings
For online colleges that offer online degrees/programs, Nightingale College has the most expensive tuition & fees ($85,700) and Los Angeles Film School has the second highest tuition & fees ($61,500) based on academic year 2024-2025 tuition data.
The below table ranks and compares the Expensive Online Colleges having expensive tuition & fees (based on out-of-state rate). For the ranking, we include colleges with more than 50% online students who enrolled online exclusively.
Expensive Online Colleges
| Rank | College Name | In-State Tuition & Fees | Out-of-State Tuition & Fees | Student Population (Total) | Online Student Population | Number of Programs | Number of Online Programs | Students to Faculty Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nightingale College Salt Lake City, UT | - | $85,700 | 6,036 | 6,036 | 6 | 6 | 12 to 1 |
| 2 | Los Angeles Film School Hollywood, CA | - | $61,500 | 5,472 | 4,243 | 12 | 5 | 31 to 1 |
| 1289 | Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts Portland, ME | - | $52,000 | 99 | 99 | 2 | - | - |
| 883 | Regis College Weston, MA | $39,820 | $49,680 | 2,517 | 1,474 | 56 | 6 | 9 to 1 |
| 3 | Bank Street College of Education New York, NY | - | $45,432 | 719 | 411 | 19 | 4 | - |
| 847 | Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA | $34,896 | $43,496 | 5,381 | 3,097 | 74 | 20 | 13 to 1 |
| 4 | Galen College of Nursing-Louisville Louisville, KY | - | $43,104 | 5,585 | 3,957 | 6 | 1 | 12 to 1 |
| 5 | Beal University Bangor, ME | - | $43,094 | 504 | 270 | 27 | 22 | 14 to 1 |
| 535 | Buena Vista University Storm Lake, IA | $32,854 | $41,798 | 1,890 | 1,080 | 90 | 11 | 13 to 1 |
| 816 | Eastern University Saint Davids, PA | $32,080 | $38,400 | 8,727 | 6,327 | 81 | 15 | 21 to 1 |
| Average | $11,383 | $14,992 | 2,624,554 | 2,183,475 | 42 | 26 | 18 to 1 |