MIT Takes No. 1: What Does Four Years Cost? For Korean Students, Net Price and the Exchange Rate Matter More Than the Sticker Price
On September 22, 2026, U.S. News & World Report released its 2027 Best Colleges rankings. The biggest headline is that MIT overtook Princeton for No. 1. Princeton had held the top spot every year since the 2012 edition, a 15-year run, but fell to No. 2 in 2027. The new Earnings by Major metric is at the center of this year’s methodology overhaul.
For Korean students and parents, though, there is a bigger question than the rankings: how much will our family actually pay over four years? This article works through it in the following order:
Ranking → Sticker Price → Financial Aid → Net Price → Exchange Rate → Post-Graduation Outcomes
1. 2027 U.S. News Rankings (Top 25)
| 2027 Rank | University | 2026 Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MIT | 2 | ▲1 |
| 2 | Princeton | 1 | ▼1 |
| 3 | Harvard | 3 | — |
| 4 | Yale | 4 | — |
| T-5 | Caltech | 11 | ▲6 |
| T-5 | Stanford | 4 | ▼1 |
| 7 | University of Pennsylvania | 7 | — |
| 8 | Duke | 7 | ▼1 |
| T-9 | Johns Hopkins | 7 | ▼2 |
| T-9 | Northwestern | 7 | ▼2 |
| T-9 | University of Chicago | 6 | ▼3 |
| T-12 | Columbia | 15 | ▲3 |
| T-12 | Dartmouth | 13 | ▲1 |
| T-14 | Carnegie Mellon | 20 | ▲6 |
| T-14 | Cornell | 12 | ▼2 |
| T-16 | Brown | 13 | ▼3 |
| T-16 | Rice | 17 | ▲1 |
| T-16 | Vanderbilt | 17 | ▲1 |
| T-16 | Washington University in St. Louis | 20 | ▲4 |
| T-20 | UC Berkeley | 15 | ▼5 |
| T-20 | UCLA | 17 | ▼3 |
| T-20 | Notre Dame | 20 | — |
| T-23 | Emory | 24 | ▲1 |
| T-23 | Georgetown | 24 | ▲1 |
| 25 | University of Michigan–Ann Arbor | 20 | ▼5 |
The rankings can be cross-checked against a summary of the U.S. News results and Poets&Quants’ analysis. The notable movers are Caltech (No. 11 → T-5), Carnegie Mellon (No. 20 → T-14), and UC Berkeley (No. 15 → T-20).
2. Why Did MIT Overtake Princeton?
The answer has more to do with a change in how schools are scored than with any change in the schools themselves.
- The new metric is worth 5%. Earnings by Major accounts for 5% of a school’s overall score and replaces the graduate debt measure. It uses U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data to assess graduate earnings four years after graduation.
- MIT ranked No. 1 on this metric; Princeton ranked No. 8. Final scores were MIT 100, Princeton 99, and Harvard 96. The gap between first and second place is one point.
- Princeton’s underlying data barely changed. The shift is best understood as a reflection of the new scoring framework rather than an academic decline at Princeton.
- The cost-side metric disappeared. The overhaul is billed as a return-on-investment upgrade, but in practice a debt measure was removed and an earnings measure was added. Schools that offer generous aid lost an advantage, and schools with high graduate earnings gained one.
In short, it is more accurate to read this as “U.S. News changed what it values” than as “MIT suddenly became a better university than Princeton.”
3. What Do the Rises of Caltech and CMU Mean?
According to Caltech, it ranked first nationally on four of the 17 indicators: financial resources per student, the share of faculty research published in top-quartile journals, graduate earnings, and standardized test scores. Details are in Caltech’s announcement.
It is plausible that the rise of STEM-focused schools like Caltech and CMU is connected to the new earnings metric, but it is too early to say so with confidence. The metric compares graduate earnings with typical earnings in the same field of study, and U.S. News itself acknowledges that differences in earnings across fields cannot be completely eliminated. The safer reading is that schools combining research strength, strong student profiles, and good post-graduation outcomes are being rewarded, not that STEM schools gained a structural edge.
4. How Much Does One Year Cost at Top Universities?
Based on official 2026–27 Cost of Attendance (COA) figures, most elite private universities cost roughly $90,000–$100,000+ per year, and some, such as Duke, exceed $100,000.
We converted at two rates: the September 30, 2026 Seoul market close of 1,352.8 KRW per dollar, and a conservative assumption of 1,400 KRW. On September 30, the won-dollar rate closed at 1,352.8, down 3.9 won from the previous session.
| University | 2027 Rank | 2026–27 Annual COA* | 1 Year (at 1,352.8) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIT | 1 | $92,760 | ≈ ₩125M |
| Princeton | 2 | $94,624 | ≈ ₩128M |
| Harvard | 3 | $95,134–$100,134 (+ insurance) | ≈ ₩129M–₩135M |
| Caltech | T-5 | ≈ $98,622** | ≈ ₩133M |
| Stanford | T-5 | $97,545*** | ≈ ₩132M |
| Penn | 7 | $99,082 | ≈ ₩134M |
| Duke | 8 | $103,180–$103,975 | ≈ ₩140M–₩141M |
| CMU | T-14 | $93,614**** | ≈ ₩127M |
| Rice | T-16 | $97,309 | ≈ ₩132M |
* COAs differ in what they include and in how they treat health insurance and travel, so this is not a perfectly like-for-like price comparison.
** Caltech’s figure is for on-campus students; health insurance may be extra. Caltech cost table
*** Stanford’s official student budget is $97,545; travel is a separate variable cost. Stanford Student Budget
**** CMU’s official COA is $93,614; health insurance of $3,093 may be required separately. CMU cost table
At MIT, tuition is $66,720 and the full COA is $92,760 (MIT Student Financial Services). Princeton’s student budget for first- and second-year students is $94,624, including tuition of $68,140 (Princeton Student Budget). Rice’s on-campus COA is $97,309 (Rice Financial Aid).
5. What Does Four Years Actually Cost?
5-1. Baseline: assume 2026–27 costs stay flat for four years
| University | 4-Year Cost (USD) | KRW (at 1,352.8) | KRW (at 1,400) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIT | $371,040 | ≈ ₩502M | ≈ ₩519M |
| Princeton | $378,496 | ≈ ₩512M | ≈ ₩530M |
| Harvard | $380,536–$400,536 | ≈ ₩515M–₩542M | ≈ ₩533M–₩561M |
| Caltech | $394,488 | ≈ ₩534M | ≈ ₩552M |
| Stanford | $390,180 | ≈ ₩528M | ≈ ₩546M |
| Penn | $396,328 | ≈ ₩536M | ≈ ₩555M |
| Duke | ≈ $414,000 (midpoint of range) | ≈ ₩560M | ≈ ₩580M |
| CMU | $374,456 | ≈ ₩507M | ≈ ₩524M |
| Rice | $389,236 | ≈ ₩527M | ≈ ₩545M |
This table simply multiplies the sticker price by four under a flat-cost assumption. Real costs may run higher because:
- Tuition and housing can rise every year.
- Airfare, visa-related costs, laptops, medical expenses, and summer housing are not fully captured in COA.
5-2. Tuition increases and exchange rates together: MIT four-year totals
| Annual increase \ Exchange rate | 1,250 | 1,352.8 (current) | 1,400 | 1,500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat (0%) | ₩464M | ₩502M | ₩519M | ₩557M |
| 4% per year | ₩492M | ₩533M | ₩551M | ₩591M |
| 5% per year | ₩500M | ₩541M | ₩560M | ₩600M |
Same university, same major, yet the four-year total ranges from about ₩460 million to ₩600 million depending on the scenario. Plan with a range, not a single number. On sticker prices alone, a realistic approach is to treat about ₩500 million as the base case and leave roughly ₩100 million of headroom above it.
6. Once the Exchange Rate Enters, the Math Changes
Even if dollar tuition does not rise by a cent, the won cost moves with the exchange rate. Take MIT’s annual COA of $92,760:
| Exchange Rate | MIT 1 Year | MIT 4 Years (flat) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,250 | ≈ ₩116.0M | ≈ ₩463.8M |
| 1,300 | ≈ ₩120.6M | ≈ ₩482.4M |
| 1,352.8 (current) | ≈ ₩125.5M | ≈ ₩501.9M |
| 1,400 | ≈ ₩129.9M | ≈ ₩519.5M |
| 1,450 | ≈ ₩134.5M | ≈ ₩538.0M |
| 1,500 | ≈ ₩139.1M | ≈ ₩556.6M |
If the rate moves from 1,250 to 1,500, the four-year burden in won rises by about ₩93 million with dollar tuition unchanged.
A 5% tuition increase vs. a 10% exchange-rate increase
Consider a university costing $100,000 a year.
- If only tuition rises 5%, the won cost rises 5%.
- If only the exchange rate rises from 1,300 to 1,430, the won cost rises exactly 10%.
- If both happen, 1.05 × 1.10 = 1.155, a rise of about 15.5%.
This is why, in some years, the exchange rate affects a household’s burden more than the tuition increase does.
7. How Much Did Tuition Actually Rise?
It varies by school.
- Princeton: Tuition rose from $65,210 to $68,140, about 4.5%. The annual student budget rose from $90,730 to $94,624, about 4.3%.
- CMU: Undergraduate COA for 2026–27 rose by 3.93% overall (CMU announcement). Undergraduate tuition is $69,702.
- Stanford: Undergraduate tuition was held at $22,577 per quarter ($67,731 per year) (Stanford tuition rates).
It would be wrong to say that “schools all raised prices 5–10% this year.” The increases we can confirm are generally around 4%, and some schools froze tuition. Over four years, though, the cumulative effect is significant, which is why the scenarios in Section 5-2 matter.
8. For Korean Students, Net Price Matters Most
A $95,000 price tag does not mean every student pays $95,000. Actual out-of-pocket cost can differ enormously depending on financial aid.
Suppose University A has a COA of $100,000 and University B has $95,000. If A offers $40,000 in aid and B offers none, A is far cheaper. That is why Net Price = COA − financial aid matters more than either the ranking or the sticker price.
The key caveat: financial aid for international students is a separate matter
- Only a small number of universities are known to evaluate international applicants need-blind and meet full need. Many others consider international applicants’ finances in admissions (need-aware) or limit the aid they offer.
- Most statistics below are averages that include U.S. students. They do not mean a Korean student would receive the same. Check each university’s International Student Financial Aid policy.
Examples by university
- Harvard: States that it applies the same financial aid policy to international students as to U.S. students. According to its official guide, families earning under $100,000 are generally expected to contribute nothing, and families earning up to $200,000 receive at least full tuition coverage. Actual awards still depend on a family’s assets and individual circumstances.
- Stanford: The student budget is $97,545, but it says most students do not pay the full amount. About two-thirds of undergraduates receive some form of aid, and 46% receive need-based scholarships (Stanford Financial Aid). These are not international-student-only figures.
- Rice: Reports an average first-year aid package of $75,643 and an average family contribution of $16,819 among aid recipients. The two figures are based on different populations, so subtracting the package from COA will not reproduce the second number. These are also all-student averages.
The $100,000 price tag at a U.S. university and what a family actually pays can be entirely different numbers. And how that gap applies to international students differs by school.
9. What About Public Universities?
UC Berkeley (▼5), UCLA (▼3), and Michigan (▼5) all fell sharply in this year’s rankings. For Korean students, however, what matters more than rank at public universities is the cost structure. International students generally pay out-of-state tuition, and financial aid is often limited. If public universities are on your list, check the COA for international students and whether aid is available before paying attention to ranking changes.
10. Look at Ranking × Cost × Major
MIT is No. 1 with a COA of $92,760; Rice is T-16 with $97,309. A higher rank does not necessarily mean a higher price, nor a lower rank a lower price. But because COA components differ by school, sticker prices cannot be compared directly. Compare on common items such as tuition, housing, and food, and ultimately judge by Net Price after aid.
Major matters too. Since the new metric reflects earnings by major, look not only at overall rank but also at the strength of the program you want (CS, AI, electrical or mechanical engineering, economics, finance, biology, humanities, and so on) and the outcomes of its graduates.
11. The Most Practical Order of Calculation
- Sticker Price: Check the published COA
- Financial Aid: Check need-based aid and merit scholarships under international-student rules
- Net Price: Calculate what your family will actually pay
- Tuition increases: Apply a 3–5% annual scenario
- Exchange rate: Convert to won at the current rate, a conservative rate, and a stress case
- Post-graduation outcomes: Check employment and earnings by major
Additional items for Korean families
- The scope and format of financial proof required for admission documents (such as the I-20)
- Remittance and currency exchange fees, and exchange-rate risk management such as converting in installments
- Tax issues around remitting tuition for a child (gift tax and others): consult a tax professional
Conclusion
MIT No. 1 and Princeton No. 2 is symbolic, but the background is a change in how schools are scored. The new metric carries a 5% weight, and the gap between first and second place is one point.
Korean families should look at four things:
- The U.S. News ranking: read it with the methodology change in mind
- Program strength by major and post-graduation outcomes
- Net Price after financial aid under international-student rules
- The exchange rate and tuition-increase scenarios: recognize that the four-year total moves within a range
The most important number is neither No. 1 nor the $100,000 price tag.
It is the amount in won that your family will actually pay over four years.
The most practical approach is to ask what that amount means for the major you choose and the career you are aiming for.
Peter Yang