Photo by katieforeman2010

According to a new report by the U.S. Education Department, the average tuition at a private, four-year, nonprofit college or university was $22,786 during the 2011-12 academic year. Students attending George Washington University paid 194 percent that much.

It’s hardly news that George Washington is among the nation’s most expensive colleges, but just to put it into fresh relief, yearly tuition in the 2011-12 year was $44,148, enough to make the Foggy Bottom university the fourth priciest in the country. Only Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, and Vassar College charged more.

The Education Department’s annual report about college tuitions comes a few months after George Washington’s campus newspaper reported the total cost of one year of attendance—including housing and other fees—was more than $58,000.

But the tuition rankings posted today break down colleges along net price, which takes into account scholarships and other forms of financial aid. In that respect, GWU didn’t crack the top 50. The net price for its students during the 2010-11 academic year, which the Education Department used to rank net prices, was $27,793. That figure rose to $31,443 in 2011-12, according to Education Department records.