MEREDITH, N.H. (NEWSnet/AP) — As more than 2 million high school graduates make final decisions on what college to attend this fall, many face jaw-dropping expense, in some cases as much as $95,000.

Some private college  have exceeded the $90,000 threshold for the first time, as they set the annual fee for tuition, room-and-board and accessories.

Many colleges with large endowments have become more focused on making college affordable for students who aren’t wealthy. Lower-income families may be required to pay only 10% of the rate and, for some, attending a private college can be less-expensive than a state institution.

“Ninety thousand dollars clearly is a lot of money, and it catches people’s attention, for sure,” said Phillip Levine, a professor of economics at Wellesley College. “But for most people, that is not how much they’re going to pay. The existence of a very generous financial aid system lowers that cost substantially.”

Wellesley is among colleges with a rate above $90K. The institution says nearly 60% of its students will receive financial aid, with an average of $62,000.

Other colleges with cost of more than $90,000 include the University of Southern California ($95,000), University of Pennsylvania ($92,000), Brown University in Rhode Island ($92,000), Dartmouth College in New Hampshire ($91,000) and Boston University ($90,000).

Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, puts its cost of attendance at $91,000, but says the average parent contribution is $13,000, and almost 25% of families pay nothing. Harvard can afford a generous student aid program because it has an endowment worth more than $50 billion, the largest of any U.S. university.

Some prospective students are facing significant delay to verify how much aid is available due to hang-ups will a new U.S. Department of Education online form. Many colleges rely on information from it to determine aid offers.

Levine said his research has shown the amount lower-income students are paying at elite institutions has declined over the past six years. But he worries high cost will prevent some students from applying.

“People should be making educational decisions based on the actual cost they have to pay, not their perceived cost,” Levine said. “The problem is that the sticker price is the easiest number to know. It gets the most attention.”

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