It was only a matter of time before a college would have the nerve to quote its cost of attendance at nearly US$100,000 (S$136,000) a year. This spring, we’re catching our first glimpse of it.

One letter to a newly admitted Vanderbilt University engineering student showed an all-in price – room, board, personal expenses, a high-octane laptop – of US$98,426. A student making three trips home to Los Angeles or London from the Nashville, Tennessee, campus during the year could hit six figures.