Welcome to the $100,000-A-YEAR degree! Students at a private university face a $400,000 degree for the first time - with experts warning a dozen other colleges are close to hitting the eye-watering total too

Students at a private university face a bill of almost $100,000 - for just the first of four years at college. 

A newly-admitted Vanderbilt University engineering student was quoted an all-in price of $98,426 for the 2024-25 school year in a letter seen by The New York Times.

This includes room, board, personal expenses and a laptop. A few trips home from the Nashville campus would take the total to six-figures, the report said.

But research by the DailyMail.com shows the amount is not a one-off. Half a dozen other private colleges charge above $90,000, including the University of Southern California, Boston University and Yale. 

Over a typical four-year course, it means those paying the full amount face a bill of $400,000. But most college degrees do pay off, research shows. 

A letter to a newly admitted Vanderbilt University engineering student seen by The New York Times showed an all-in price of $98,426 for the 2024-25 school year (Pictured: Kirkland Hall at Vanderbilt University)

Vanderbilt University is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, which is extremely selective. According to US News College Rankings, it accepts seven in every 100 applicants. 

Ron Lieber, columnist and author of The Price You Pay for College, said over 2,000 students at the university who do not receive aid will soon pay a six-figure sum for a year of college expenses - and he predicts other universities will soon follow suit.

'A few dozen other colleges and universities that reject the vast majority of applicants will probably arrive at this threshold within a few years,' he wrote.

This means that over the course of a typical four-year degree, going to college could end up costing a huge $400,000 at several colleges, such as those already charging more than $90,000 a year. 

Those doing a college degree in most cases should at least see a return on their - or their parents' - investment. A study reported in DailyMail.com showed the average college degree offers a better return on investment than the US stock market - and an engineering degree provided the best return.

Tuition and fees at private universities in particular have increased by 40 percent in the last 20 years - adjusted for inflation - according to rankings and analysis site U.S. News & World Report.

Data from non-profit the College Board found that the average price for the 2023-24 year - for tuition, fees, housing and food - at a private school was $56,190. That is up 4 percent from $53,970 the year before.

At a public college, in-state students paid an average of $24,030 - up 3 percent from $24,030 in the 2022-23 year - for one year of a four-year degree.

But the cost of some schools - particularly those in cities with an elevated cost of living - are much higher. 

Schools such as the University of Southern California (USC), New York University (NYU), Tufts, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale are predicting the full cost of attendance could top $90,000 for the next school year, Business Insider reported.

Tufts University in Greater Boston predicts attendance costs could hit $95,888 for the 2024-25 school year, while the price of an undergraduate degree at USC could hit $95,225 a year.

According to the NYU website, it estimates the total cost of school next year will be $93,184 - with $62,796 for tuition, and $24,652 for food and housing listed as the biggest expenses. 

But Lieber pointed out that many students do not pay the sticker price for college - and it is usually the wealthiest students who end up paying the full amount. 

Only around 35 percent of Vanderbilt students pay the full list price for a degree - with the majority getting aid of some kind, he wrote in The New York Times. 

Ron Lieber, columnist and author of 'The Price You Pay for College', said other colleges will likely also reach the $100,000 a year threshold within a few years

According to a 2023 report from the College Board which cited data from the 2019-20 school year, 31 percent of student received enough aid to fully cover their tuition and fees at four-year public schools. They still had to pay for their living expenses, however.

At private colleges, the figure was 18 percent for the 2019-20 school year. 

Vanderbilt also provides generous discounts for students, Lieber, wrote, and this year it announced that families with an income of $150,000 or less would pay no tuition fees in the majority of instances.

And a separate report from the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) found private and non-profit schools lowered their tuition prices by 56 percent on average for the 2022-23 year - a new record.

Tuition, fees and living expenses at universities across the US have climbed steadily in the last decades

So where does the money go? 

At some small liberal arts colleges with large endowments, even $100,000 would not cover the cost of educating a student, the schools claim. 

Williams College, in Massachusetts, said it spends $50,000 more per student than its list price, The New York Times reported. 

The school said it will invest $135,600 in each of its students, while it estimates on its website that the attendance cost for the 2024-25 year will be approximately $87,320 for those studying away. 

Vanderbilt told the outlet the spending per undergraduate is $119,000. 

'The gap between the price and cost of attendance is funded by our endowment and the generous philanthropy of donors and alumni,' Brett Sweet, vice chancellor for finance, said in an emailed statement. 

The soaring cost of education comes amid rising concerns over student debt, and questions as to whether a college degree is worth the investment. 

In 2024, student loan borrowers owe a collective $1.74 trillion in federal and private student loan debt, according to the most recent quarterly tally by the Federal Reserve. On average, a household with student debt owes $55,347, according to NerdWallet.

Last year, a survey revealed that nearly half of US companies intended to eliminate bachelor's degree requirements for some job positions.

Some 55 percent of 800 US employers said they had already eliminated degree requirements in 2023. 

Nearly half of US companies intend to eliminate bachelor degree requirements for some job positions in 2024, according to a survey by Intelligent.com

It comes after major companies Walmart, IBM, Accenture, Bank of America and Google announced similar plans.

For example, information technology company Accenture launched an apprenticeship program in 2016 through which it has since hired over 1,000 people, CNBC reported.

Some 80 percent of those people joined the company without a four-year-degree.

Earlier this year, the company expanded the program with the goal of filling 20 percent of its US entry-level roles.

'A person's educational credentials are not the only indicators of success, so we advanced our approach to hiring to focus on skills, experiences and potential,' CEO of Accenture North America, Jimmy Etheredge, told the outlet.