STUDENT FINANCE & COLLEGE PLANNING

Fordham University Cost: 2026-27 Tuition, Fees, and What You’ll Actually Pay

Updated September 2026 · Figures sourced from Fordham University’s Office of Student Financial Services and independent college-cost trackers

Fordham University’s sticker price for 2026-27 is $67,925 in tuition alone, and the full cost of attendance for a student living on campus lands around $96,000-$98,000 a year. But almost nobody pays that number. Use the calculator below to get a working estimate for your situation, then read on for the full breakdown of tuition, fees, room and board, financial aid, and the recent federal changes affecting how you’ll pay for it.

Fordham University Cost Calculator

Fordham University Tuition and Fees for 2026-27

Fordham announced its fifth consecutive annual tuition increase in April 2026, raising undergraduate tuition by 4.5% to $67,925 for the 2026-27 academic year. That’s tuition only — before fees, housing, meals, or anything else. The university has raised tuition roughly 4% every spring since 2022, with the sole exception of 2021-22, when the Board of Trustees froze rates because of pandemic-related financial strain on families.

Room and meal plan costs rose by 3% for the same academic year. Put the two increases together and a Fordham education living on campus now runs close to $96,000-$98,000 annually, depending on which residence hall and meal plan a student chooses.

Figures reflect Fordham’s April 2026 tuition announcement and published undergraduate rate schedules for Fordham College at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center. See Fordham’s official tuition and fees page for exact current-year numbers, since fees vary slightly by campus and program.

Full Cost of Attendance: What $96,000-$98,000 Actually Covers

“Cost of attendance” is a specific financial-aid term, and it’s worth understanding because it’s the number your aid package is measured against — not just tuition. It includes four buckets:

• Direct costs — tuition and mandatory fees, billed straight to your student account.
• Room and board — either your dorm and meal plan charges, or an estimated allowance if you live off campus.
• Books and supplies — a standardized estimate, since actual spending varies by major.
• Personal expenses and transportation — a modest allowance for the MTA, laundry, phone bills, and everyday life in New York City.

For the prior academic year (2025-26), Fordham’s total published cost of attendance was $93,168, with a net price of $58,057 for the average student receiving need-based aid. Apply this year’s tuition and housing increases and the sticker figure for 2026-27 climbs to approximately $96,000-$98,000 for a full-time, on-campus undergraduate, though your actual bill depends heavily on which dorm, meal plan, and school within Fordham you’re enrolled in.

Cost by School and Program

“Fordham University cost” means something different depending on which school you’re enrolled in. The undergraduate day programs at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center charge the flat full-time rate above, but several other Fordham programs bill differently.

Gabelli School of Business (undergraduate)

Undergraduate business students at Gabelli pay the same full-time tuition rate as Fordham College students, since Fordham prices undergraduate tuition university-wide rather than by school.

Graduate programs (GSAS, GSE, GSS)

Most graduate programs bill per credit rather than a flat annual rate. The Graduate School of Education charged $1,799 per unit for 2025-26 (or $1,049 per unit for select faith-based programs), plus per-term fees like the $95 General Fee and $356 Technology Fee. For 2026-27, several graduate divisions — including Gabelli’s graduate programs, GSAS, GSE religion programs, the Graduate School of Social Service, and the School of Law — moved to a rate near $1,835 per credit.

School of Law

Fordham Law’s tuition is billed per credit and tracks close to the graduate per-credit rate above; a typical full-time law course load runs considerably higher in total annual cost than the per-credit number alone suggests, once mandatory fees and health insurance are factored in.

School of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS)

PCS is built for working adults and part-time students, and it charges a meaningfully lower per-credit rate than the full-time day programs — Fordham describes it as set “with the realities of the adult learner in mind.”

Financial Aid at Fordham: What Actually Reduces the Bill

Fordham meets financial need using the FAFSA, and for most applicants, that’s the starting point for any aid package. Here’s what the aid landscape actually looks like based on recently reported figures:

• 70% of first-year students received need-based financial aid.
• $41,919 was the average need-based scholarship or grant for first-year students.
• $6,413 was the average need-based self-help aid (federal loans and work-study) awarded to first-years.
• Merit aid is awarded separately from need-based aid, based on academic record and standardized test scores where submitted, and can stack with need-based awards for some students.

The gap between the $67,925 tuition sticker price and the $58,057 net price for aided students in the prior year illustrates the core reality of private university pricing: the published rate functions more like a maximum than an actual bill for most families who qualify for aid. Full details on award types and deadlines are on Fordham’s Office of Student Financial Services site.

How the 2026 Federal Aid Changes Affect You

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) introduced several changes to federal student aid that took effect on July 1, 2026, and Fordham has flagged this directly on its tuition and financial aid pages. If you’re filling out a FAFSA for the 2026-27 award year or later, it’s worth checking with Fordham’s Office of Student Financial Services or the Federal Student Aid office directly about how the changes affect loan limits, repayment plan options, and Grad PLUS or Parent PLUS borrowing, since federal rules in this area have shifted meaningfully from prior cycles and specifics can affect graduate and professional students differently than undergraduates.

Don’t rely on older blog posts or forum threads for the exact numbers here — federal loan program details are precisely the kind of information that changes year to year and needs to come from Federal Student Aid (studentaid.gov) or Fordham’s financial aid office directly, not from secondhand summaries.

Net Price vs. Sticker Price: Why the Calculator Matters

Sticker price is the number everyone panics about. Net price is the number that actually determines whether Fordham fits your budget. The difference between the two, for the average aided student, was roughly $35,000 in the most recent reporting year — larger than many families expect before they apply.

Here’s the practical sequence worth following if you’re evaluating Fordham against other schools:

1. Run Fordham’s official Net Price Calculator using your family’s actual income, assets, and household size — not a generic estimate.
2. Compare that net price against every other school on your list, using each school’s own net price calculator rather than sticker prices.
3. Ask about renewal conditions for merit aid specifically — some merit scholarships require a minimum GPA to renew each year, which matters over four years, not just year one.
4. Factor in the multi-year picture. Tuition has risen roughly 4-4.65% annually at Fordham for five straight years, so your year-four cost will likely be noticeably higher than your year-one cost even if your aid package holds steady in dollar terms.

How Fordham’s Cost Compares to Similar Private Universities

Fordham’s $67,452 combined tuition-and-fees figure (prior year, before the 2026-27 increase) placed it in the top 5% of U.S. institutions for cost, and well above the national average tuition figure of $47,097 across all four-year institutions. That positions Fordham alongside other mid-size private research universities in the New York metro area and Northeast Corridor, most of which cluster in a similar $65,000-$70,000 tuition band before aid.

Fordham’s room and board runs higher than the national private-school average largely because of New York City’s cost of living — a factor worth weighing against the value of the school’s Manhattan and Bronx locations and the internship access that comes with them.

Common Mistakes Families Make When Budgeting for Fordham

• Treating the $67,925 tuition figure as the whole bill. Tuition is only about 70% of the roughly $96,000-$98,000 sticker cost of attendance — fees, housing, food, and personal costs make up the rest, and they’re easy to underestimate.
• Comparing Fordham’s sticker price to other schools’ sticker prices. The average aided Fordham student pays closer to $58,000, not $67,925 — always compare net price to net price using each school’s own Net Price Calculator.
• Assuming a merit award covers all four years automatically. Merit scholarships at Fordham are often tied to a minimum GPA for renewal — confirm the exact requirement with the financial aid office before counting on the same dollar amount in year four.
• Ignoring five straight years of 4-4.65% tuition increases. A student starting at $67,925 in 2026-27 should budget for tuition closer to $79,000 by senior year if the recent growth rate holds, not the entry-year price for all four years.
• Missing the mandatory health insurance fee. Fordham bills over $2,000 a year for health insurance unless you file a waiver with proof of comparable existing coverage — this line item is one of the most commonly overlooked in family budgets.
• Waiting past May 1 to question an aid offer. If a package looks lower than expected, call the financial aid office before the deposit deadline, not after — appeals are far harder to make once you’ve committed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Written by Shivam

Founder, Sitnit — builds calculators & guides on student finance and college planning

Shivam researches and maintains Sitnit’s financial calculators, cross-checking published rates against official sources before every update.

More by Shivam · Reviewed September 2026