Sticker tuition

Sticker tuition is the published tuition before scholarships or waivers. It is not cost of attendance and not what most aided students pay. Scorecard “average annual cost” is an undergraduate net-price figure. For an MBA, sticker is the bursar’s catalog number (NCES; Ross COA).

Is sticker the same as cost of attendance?+

No. COA adds living allowances, books, travel, and loan fees (20 U.S.C. § 1087ll). Sticker is the tuition (and sometimes required fees) line. A $80,000 sticker plus a $30,000 living allowance is a $110,000 COA. Rankings and Twitter threads that sort on sticker hide both aid and living costs.

Sticker vs the other prices

Number	What it is	MBA catch	Source / date
Sticker tuition	Published tuition	Resident vs nonresident; per year vs total	Ross 2026–27
Program fee	One price for the whole MBA	May ignore standing	School pages
Per-credit	Unit price × credits	Foundations and overloads extra	Bursar
COA	Aid-office budget	Ceiling for federal loans	§ 1087ll
Net price	COA − grants/scholarships	Scorecard NPT4 is undergrad	NCES / Scorecard

Ross 2026–27 full-time MBA: in-state tuition $78,586, nonresident $83,946, then fees, books, food and housing, personal, loan fees. Two stickers, one program. Public schools use residency. Private schools usually do not.

Example: Private two-year MBA, $80,000 per year sticker, $40,000 merit, $20,000 living. Yearly net tuition $40,000. Two-year tuition out of pocket $80,000, plus living. A public in-state sticker of $40,000 with no aid can cost the same. Sorting on sticker picks the wrong school.

Common errors

• Using Scorecard “average annual cost” as MBA sticker
• Comparing a one-year sticker to a two-year sticker
• Ignoring resident/nonresident splits
• Treating sticker as the invoice after a fellowship

FAQ

Does anyone pay sticker?+

Yes. Full-pay students, many internationals, and employer-sponsored students whose company pays the catalog rate. Merit averages do not mean your price moved.

Is the two-year total double the annual sticker?+

Only if year-two tuition does not rise and no summer tuition exists. Some programs bill a program fee. Some bill summers. Multiply after you read the bursar footnote.

Where do I find sticker?+

The program’s tuition page or the aid office’s COA table, current year. Archived PDFs and ranking tables lag. Do not use last year’s class Facebook number.