Columbia University

Columbia's prestige increasingly outpaces its value, with a cost of attendance exceeding $90,000 per year, yet its ranking manipulation scandal exposed a deliberate inflation of metrics like class size and faculty degrees. This reliance on manufactured statistics makes Columbia more overrated than Cornell, which at least delivers straightforward value with lower tuition. The full price tag—30% higher than the average Ivy—buys a New York City experience that often feels transactional, where undergraduate satisfaction surveys show 18% of students regret their choice due to limited faculty interaction amid overcrowded core curriculum classes.