RANKED: The 25 colleges that make the most money from students’ application fees

College is a huge financial undertaking, and the costs start racking up well before you enroll in your choice school.

LendEDU recently released its annual ranking of the colleges that make the most money off of student applications. The student-loan information site analyzed data from the National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and reported how much revenue 500 American colleges and universities earn from application fees for the 2016-17 academic year.

LendEDU notes that the revenue figures are estimates based on the number of applicants and the school's application fee. Some colleges offer discounted or waived application fees for need-based financial aid students.

The top of the list is full of blue and gold. Eight campuses in the University of California system — where the application fee is $70 and the number of applicants ranges from over 42,000 to 97,000 — ranked in the top 25.

Below, take a look at the top 25 colleges that earned the most revenue off student applications last year, ranked from lowest to highest.

25. Harvard University

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24. Purdue University (main campus)

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23. University of California, Riverside

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22. University of Washington, Seattle

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21. University of Massachusetts, Amherst

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20. Fordham University

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19. Columbia University

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18. San Diego State University

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17. California State University, Long Beach

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16. University of California, Santa Cruz

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15. Pennsylvania State University (main campus)

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14. The University of Texas, Austin

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13. Cornell University

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12. Northeastern University

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11. Stanford University

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10. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

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Projected revenue: $4,162,800

9. New York University

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8. University of Southern California

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7. Boston University

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6. University of California, Davis

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5. University of California, Santa Barbara

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4. University of California, Irvine

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3. University of California, Berkeley

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2. University of California, San Diego

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1. University of California, Los Angeles

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RANKED: The 25 colleges that make the most money from students’ application fees

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