The Washington Post, in its column, The Answer Sheet: A School Survival Guide for Parents, reports[http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/more-colleges-join-50k-plus-a.html] that more colleges than ever now cost $50,000 or more per year. For example, Harvard students who don’t qualify for financial aid will pay $50,724 for tuition, room and board, and fees, the first time the university has climbed into the ranks of schools which charge more than $50,000 a year.

Although many students qualify for financial aid, the Post notes that “$50,000 is a symbolic marker, one that is expected to frighten many parents away from these schools before learning that they could get significant aid.”

More private schools are crossing the threshold for the 2010-11 school year. Citing a Boston Globe survey, the Post says in the Boston area alone, schools already in the $50K club are Smith College, Boston College, Tufts University, and Boston University. Among those joining next year, besides Harvard, are Dartmouth College, Wellesley College, Brown University, and Brandeis University.

Last November, the Chronicle of Higher Education did an analysis indicating that nationally 58 private colleges charged at least $50,000 for tuition, room and board, and fees. Outside of the greater Boston region, schools that broke that barrier this year include Johns Hopkins University, Washington University in St. Louis, Bryn Mawr College, and Skidmore College. For the 2008-2009 school year, only five schools charged that much.

A report on college pricing [http://www.trends-collegeboard.com/college_pricing/] by the College Board, issued in October, showed that the average cost of attending private colleges for the current school year rose 4.3 percent from the year before, to $35,636.