College education in the US could soon top $100,000 per year at some schools

Vanderbilt University has made headlines after reports revealed that some students will be facing a staggering cost of attendance nearing $100,000 per year.  

According to a report from the New York Times, a letter sent to a newly-admitted engineering student at Vanderbilt totaled the cost of room, board, personal expenses, and a high-end laptop at $98,426. 

While this price tag at Vanderbilt is considered an "anomaly" by the Times, as only a small percentage of college students will pay a similar amount, the trend of soaring college admission costs still raises concerns. It is predicted that a dozen or so colleges may reach similarly high costs in the coming years as college tuition continues to rise. 

The average price of tuition, fees, housing, and food at a four-year public college stands at just over $24,000 according to the College Board. However, many students benefit from grants and financial aid, with 31% of students at four-year public schools paying nothing in tuition and fees in 2023. For private colleges, this figure drops to 18%. 

While private colleges like Vanderbilt have attempted to provide generous amounts of discounts and aid, there are still many students who will be required to pay an extraordinary amount of fees. Over 2,000 students at Vanderbilt University, who receive no aid, will soon be required to pay over $100,000 annually.  

To understand why the cost is so high and where this money is going, the outlet referenced the book "Why Does College Cost So Much" which highlights the role of administrative fees and increasing salaries for administrators and faculty. 

“The critical factors are that higher education is a personal service, that it has not experienced much labor-saving productivity growth, and that the wages of the highly educated workers so important at colleges and universities have soared,” Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman explained in their book. 

“These are economywide factors. They have little to do with any pathology in higher education.” 

While college costs continue to rise, having a bachelor's degree is still a factor in a person’s ability to obtain a high-paying job. According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the median salary in 2021 for a person with a bachelor’s degree was $61,000. For a person who only has a high school degree, the median earning was $39,700, an amount 55% lower.