Tulane University Tuition and Fees

By Susan Guillory

(Last Updated – 02/2025)

It may be located in the party capital of New Orleans, but Tulane University provides a serious education. Tulane ranks among the top 2% of U.S. universities for research, and it’s rated as one of the best universities in the South. With small class sizes and five schools of study, Tulane has a lot to offer prospective students. Here’s an overview of Tulane tuition and other costs, as well as the Tulane acceptance rate.

Total Cost of Attendance

Costs for 2023-2024

•  Tuition & Fees: $65,538

•  Books & Supplies: $1,200

•  Room & Board: $18,088

•  Other Expenses: $2,620

•  Total Cost of Attendance: $87,446

Financial Aid

To help cover the cost of Tulane tuition, 64% of students use one or more forms of financial aid. This may be student loans, scholarships, or grants, or a combination of these different types of aid.

Tulane is need-blind, which means that a student’s ability (or inability) to pay for their education doesn’t impact their chances of acceptance.

Generally, financial aid is monetary assistance awarded to students based on personal need or merit. Students who qualify for financial aid can use it to pay for college costs like tuition, books, and living expenses.

The federal government is the largest provider of student financial aid. However, aid can also be given by state governments, colleges and universities, private companies, and nonprofits. The different types include:

•  Scholarships: These can be awarded by schools and other organizations based on students’ academic excellence, athletic achievement, community involvement, job experience, field of study, or financial need.

•  Grants: Generally based on financial need, these can come from federal, state, private, or non-profit organizations.

•  Work-study: This federal program provides qualifying students with part-time employment to earn money for expenses while in school.

•  Federal student loans: This is money borrowed directly from the U.S. Department of Education. It comes with fixed interest rates that are typically lower than private loans.

Colleges, universities, and state agencies use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine financial aid eligibility. The FAFSA can be completed online, but note that state, federal, and school deadlines may differ.

You can find other financial aid opportunities on databases such as:

•  US Department of Education — Search for grants from colleges and universities by state

•  College Scholarship Service Profile (CSS) — A global college scholarship application used by select institutions to award financial aid

•  SoFi Scholarship Finder — Use our handy tool to streamline your search by award type, location, level of study and more.

Recommended: Louisiana Student Loans & Scholarships

Private Student Loans

To help cover the cost of Tulane tuition, 23% of students got federal student loans; 3% took out private student loans, averaging $36,426.

Private loans are funded by private organizations such as banks, online lenders, credit unions, some schools, and state-based or -affiliated organizations. While Federal student loans have interest rates that are regulated by Congress, private lenders follow a different set of regulations so their qualifications and interest rates can vary widely.

What’s more, private loans have variable or fixed interest rates that may be higher than federal loan interest rates, which are always fixed. Private lenders may (but don’t always) require you to make payments on your loans while you are still in school, compared to federal student loans, which you don’t have to start paying back until after you graduate, leave school, or change your enrollment status to less than half-time.

Private loans don’t have a specific application window and can be applied for on an as-needed basis. However, if you think you may need to take out a private loan, it’s a good idea to submit your FAFSA first to see what federal aid you may qualify for, since it generally has better rates and terms.

If you’ve missed the FAFSA deadline or you’re struggling to pay for school during the year, private loans can potentially help you make your tuition payments. Just keep in mind that you will need enough lead time for your loan to process and for your lender to send money to your school.

Recommended: Guide to Private Student Loans

Projected 4-Year-Degree Price

The cost to attend Tulane University for four years, including tuition and fees, room and board, books, and other expenses, would be $349,784 (based on 2023-24 numbers). This is much higher than the national average of $241,680 for four years at a private university.

This student loan and scholarship information may be valuable as you research schools and costs.

Undergraduate Tuition and Fees

The total cost of attendance (which includes the above costs plus room and board and other expenses) for undergraduates at Tulane was $87,446 in 2023-24. This is notably higher than the average annual cost of attendance for private colleges in the U.S., which is $60,420.

Graduate Tuition and Fees

Costs for 2023-24

•  Average tuition: $63,814

•  Fees: $2,232

Tuition and fees for graduate students at Tulane for 2023-24 averaged $66,046. This is higher than the average cost of graduate school tuition and fees in the U.S., which is $21,730 per year.

There are graduate loans available to help with these costs.

Cost per Credit Hour

Students at Tulane generally need to enroll full-time and pay a flat fee for tuition and fees. Seniors who require less than 12 credits to graduate, however, may apply for part-time enrollment in their last semester and pay $2,683 per credit hour.

Summer students can also attend the university part-time and pay per credit hour. The cost per credit hour in the summer is $1,240. There are early summer and late summer part-time sessions at Tulane.

Campus Housing Expenses

Costs for 2023-24

•  Food and Housing (on campus): $18,088

•  Other Expenses: $2,620

•  Total Estimated Living Expenses: $20,708

Students admitted as new students (not transfer students) are required to live on campus for their first three years at Tulane. There are 15 residence halls on campus. Students also have the option of living in one of the many Residential Learning Communities: these are immersive spaces within the dorms where students live together to learn about and participate in activities centered around a theme.

For students in their fourth year who want to move off campus, there are plenty of rental options located near the university.

Tulane University Acceptance Rate

Admission Requirements

Thinking of applying to Tulane? Here are Tulane’s admissions requirements.

Required:

•  Application (including list of activities and personal statement)

•  High school transcript

•  Secondary school report

•  School counselor recommendation

Optional:

•  SAT or ACT scores

•  Portfolio or audition materials

•  Teacher recommendations

Here are the application deadlines:

•  Early Decision: November 1 (with a decision given by December 15)

•  Early Action: November 15 (with a decision given by January 10)

•  Early Decision II: January 15 (with a decision given by February 15)

•  Regular Decision: January 15 (with a decision given by April 1)

SAT and ACT Scores

Though submitting test scores is optional at Tulane, it can be helpful to know the average scores of other students who chose to submit their scores.

Here are the standardized test scores of students who enrolled in Fall 2023 at the 25th and 75th percentiles.

Popular Majors at Tulane University

Tulane offers a wide range of majors and minors and encourages cross-disciplinary studies across its five undergraduate schools. Here are some of the most popular majors at the university.

1. Finance

Not only do Finance majors learn about valuation, accounting, investments, and fixed-income analysis, but they also have the opportunity for hands-on experience by producing analysts’ reports and investing real funds in the market.

Undergraduate degrees in 2022-23: 279

2. Psychology

Psychology students will learn research methods they can apply in hands-on lab work. They’ll take courses like Human Development, Cognitive Basis of Behavior, and Evolutionary Psychology and Ethology.

Undergraduate degrees in 2022-23: 171

3. Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences

Students dive into topics including nutrition, personal fitness, health evaluation, risk behaviors, and healthy behavior changes. They also have the opportunity to participate in an internship in their chosen field.

Undergraduate degrees in 2022-23: 161

4. Marketing

After taking core business courses like Financial Accounting and Intro to Business Computing, Marketing majors can delve into classes like Advanced Marketing Strategy, Social and Online Marketing, Pricing, New Product Development, and Relationship Marketing.

Undergraduate degrees in 2022-23: 133

5. Communication

Communication majors develop speaking, analysis, and communication skills, including written, visual, and nonverbal. Coursework includes Introduction to Cultural Studies, Cross-Cultural Analysis, Rhetorical Criticism, New Media Analysis, and Philanthropy and Social Change.

Undergraduate degrees in 2022-23: 120

6. Neuroscience

This program is a blend of Psychology, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Anatomy, Pharmacology, Linguistics, and Physiology. Students can participate in lab work as well as study abroad.

Undergraduate degrees in 2022-23: 111

7. Management

Management students develop skills that teach them how to make strategic decisions, manage people, and bring new technologies and innovations to market. Classes include Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory Environment of Business; Organizational Behavior; Management Communication; and Marketing Fundamentals.

Undergraduate degrees in 2022-23: 109

8. Political Science

Another top major at UT Knoxville is business statistics, which focuses on applied statistics. Students learn how to gather data about an organization’s performance, analyze it to offer business solutions, and make predictions about further growth.

Undergraduate degrees in 2022-23: 82

9. Economics

Tulane offers both a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Economics. The BA has more focus on broad liberal arts training, while the BS focuses more on quantitative analysis.

Undergraduate degrees in 2022-23: 73

10. Political Science / International Relations

Thought in the West, World Economy, and International Political Economy.

Undergraduate degrees in 2022-23: 45

Graduation Rate

Most Tulane students complete their degree in four years. But some students take longer. Here are the graduation rates for students who began at Tulane in 2017.

•  4 years: 82%

•  6 years: 89%

Post-Graduation Median Earnings

The median annual earnings of Tulane University graduates is $63,268. This is higher than the median earnings for all graduates of four-year colleges, which is $53,747.