Forget using plt.title and place the text directly with plt.text. An over-exaggerated example is given below:
import pylab as plt
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(5,10))
figure_title = "Normal title"
ax1 = plt.subplot(1,2,1)
plt.title(figure_title, fontsize = 20)
plt.plot([1,2,3],[1,4,9])
figure_title = "Raised title"
ax2 = plt.subplot(1,2,2)
plt.text(0.5, 1.08, figure_title,
horizontalalignment='center',
fontsize=20,
transform = ax2.transAxes)
plt.plot([1,2,3],[1,4,9])
plt.show()
