Some US colleges set to charge nearly $100,000 a year

According to The Princeton Review's "The Best 389 Colleges" list, eight institutions have set their annual costs above $90,000 for the 2024-25 academic year, as reported by CNBC.

Earlier this month, an engineering student accepted into Vanderbilt University, a private university in Nashville, Tennessee, received correspondence from the school detailing that the all-in price, which includes tuition and fees, housing, personal expenses, and a laptop, was $98,426 for the upcoming school year, the New York Times reported.

This steep figure is not an isolated incident, as multiple private higher education institutions across the U.S. have disclosed estimated attendance costs exceeding $90,000 for the 2024-25 academic year, after factoring in tuition, fees, room and board, books, transportation and other expenses, according to the Daily Mail.

Tufts University in Massachusetts expected the total costs for students to reach $95,888, while the University of Southern California and New York University have quoted students prices of $95,225 and $93,184, respectively.

Yale University in Connecticut has set its estimates at $90,975, and the University of Pennsylvania at $92,288.

Tuition and fees at private universities have surged by 40% over the last two decades, after adjusting for inflation, according to an analysis conducted by U.S. News & World Report.

Experts predict that the escalating costs may soon cross the $100,000 threshold. With tuition adjustments averaging approximately 4% annually, attendance expenses at universities already exceeding the $90,000 mark could surpass $100,000 as early as 2026, CNBC quoted Bryan Alexander, a senior scholar at Georgetown University, as speculating.