Massachusetts — Berklee College of Music
Average net price per year: $43,799
Median earnings six years after graduation: $30,300
If you want to attend Berklee College of Music, you’ll need to have skills; the acceptance rate is only 48%. You’ll also need to have access to some serious cash, since the net price of tuition is more than $28,000 higher than the national average. As a result of the high cost to attend, the average debt for Berklee students who take out loans is $51,280 over four years. That’s over $21,000 higher than the median salary for alumni after six years in the workforce — that is, if you can find a job. But if your heart is set on Berklee, make sure to take advantage of money-saving apps while you’re in school so you don’t waste a dollar more than you have to. “It’s the Berklee College of Money, overpriced and under-valued,” an alum writes. “In Boston, people will view you as a sucker for attending because everyone has met the kid drowned in student loan debt that works a mediocre, dead-end job waiting to ‘make it.’”