The cost of a single course at the 10 most expensive colleges in the US

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If you knew how much each college course was costing you, you might think twice before snoozing through your Monday morning physics class — it turns out, a single course amounts to a couple grand.

Using Business Insider's list of the most expensive colleges in the US, we took the top 10 priciest, and broke down the costs to find out how much just one course will set you back.

We took the tuition for each school — not including fees or room and board — and multiplied that number by four to find out how much it costs to graduate on a standard four-year schedule.

We then determined how many classes a student needs to take to receive a degree at each university by looking at each school's website. Some schools have a minimum course requirement, while others have a credit requirement — for those with a credit requirement, we read the course catalog to find the number of credits for a typical course to determine about how many classes a student needs to take to meet that requirement.

Finally, we divided the cost of tuition by the number of courses needed, giving us the cost of a single course.

Bear in mind that every school and every student is different.

Many students attending these schools receive scholarships and/or financial aid, which lowers the cost of tuition. They may spend a semester or year abroad, and pay a different school tuition. They may graduate early. And since course and credit requirements often differ according to major, the number of courses needed to graduate can vary from student to student.

Our calculations can't possibly match every individual's college experience, but they do help quantify how much every A, B, or C costs for a full-time student paying sticker price at a four-year school.

We found it interesting that this list does not follow the order of our list of most expensive universities. A course at the most expensive school, Harvey Mudd College, actually costs less than many others.

This is because courses at some schools count for more credits, meaning that students have to take fewer courses to graduate. The fewer courses a student has to take, the more a single course is going to cost.

Read on to see the list, in order of least to most expensive courses:

University of Chicago: Chicago, Illinois

Total Annual Cost:$64,965 ($259,860 for four years)

Tuition for four years: $196,104

Number of courses needed to graduate: 42

Cost per course: $4,669

Note: The University of Chicago uses a quarter system in place of semesters.

Harvey Mudd College: Claremont, California

Total Annual Cost:$67,255 ($269,020 for four years)

Tuition for four years: $201,472

Number of courses needed to graduate: 43

Note: Harvey Mudd students must graduate with 128 credits. Most courses are worth three credits, meaning students will take about 43 courses in total.

Cost per course: $4,685

Columbia University: New York City, New York

Columbia University in the City of New York/Facebook

Total Annual Cost:$66,383 ($265,532 for four years)

Tuition for four years: $212,000

Number of courses needed to graduate: 40

Cost per course: $5,300