Unless I’m missing something, the Summer Session will add $10K+ to my OOS son’s freshman year costs (rough numbers: $7,400 for six credits; $2,350 R&B; $250 fees, plus books, addl. travel, etc.). That brings my son’s OOS price tag to $51K not counting books, travel, supplies, etc. I think the concept of it essentially pre-paying future costs or ‘saving’ money is a bit wishful. In best case scenario most of our kids will be in for at least four full years, with full tuition (12+ credits), PLUS the summer. I understand Penn State is not considered generous when it comes to financial aid beyond Stafford loans/work-study. Am I missing something? (other than a trust fund?)
@brucemag I think your analysis is essentially correct. I, too, don’t quite understand the logic of summer session saving money. Most if not all potential summer earnings (by the student) would be “lost”, and if a full courseload is taken every semester and there are no changes in major, a degree should be possible within 8 fall/spring semesters.
It’s not all a cost savings that people talk about…it’s also time.
If your child takes 6 credits in the summer, then that is a semester or two that instead of having to take 15+ credits, he can take just 12. Plus if they have dual enrollment classes from high school, then it is indeed possible to graduate in less than 4 years. My daughter will start summer session with 12 credits from high school already on her transcript. Add in the 6 credits from summer and she will start fall semester with 18 credits under her belt. If she stays on track, she will graduate in 3 1/2 years, and if not she has the option of changing majors or taking lesser course loads and graduating in 4 years. It just gives more options.
For the most part though, one way or another you will pay for those classes. The room and board and other fees are certainly more. I am in state though, so it all looks very different for us. OOS costs are ridiculous.
I think, @jlhpsu, that your daughter is the exception rather than the rule (and good for you and her!). I wish my son were entering college with credits under his belt, but he’s not. My guess is most kids don’t. If summer helps your daughter (and some others) graduate in 3.5 years, that’s awesome. But my guess (again) is most summer kids will still end up with the 4 full years ahead of them. Hopefully, though, these 6 credits save us all from that extra semester after four years. And, yes, OOS costs make Penn State more expensive than the private schools that have offered my son merit aid. But, it IS Penn State. 
True…my son is 16 and has no intention whatsoever of taking any college level classes in high school. She he will most likely be on the 5 year plan somewhere!
Somewhere someone explained why summer is a good deal and it made sense to me - but who knows when or how I read that.
I guess in the end it’s just an added cost to the already high cost of college!
Anyone know how available jobs are during summer semester? I really want to go to Penn State but the biggest hurdle is the oos cost
I don’t think summer is deal or meant to be a savings. The tuitions and fees (6 credits) would be the same if you took it in the Fall or Spring.
What makes it costly is the room and board fees (especially OOS). This extra room and board is what makes your yearly over all cost expensive. I have no idea if the meal plan is a set price for the summer, but if not maybe a slight savings could be taken here. Some savings in book costs, too.
You actually get a better deal in the Spring and Fall for classes. You pay for 12 credits but you can take I think up to 17-18 credits. This where you save a bit. The average student takes about 15 credits. PSU says that there is room for students to have jobs with 15 credits (they encourage it). However, there are some majors that do require more studying than other ones. On campus jobs work around the student’s schedule.
My son has 17 credits this Spring. One is an online elective course for music.
A note on AP credits. While you can transfer these AP credit based upon the AP test score, not all are always accepted. It depends on the college you were accepted into. Example, I don’t believe my son’s physic’s AP was allowed for Chem Eng majors. Some courses are required to be taken at PSU depending on the intended major.
Also, we did not send every AP course taken in HS. It’s not always an advantage.
We chose to use the credits to either move out of the 100 level classes or to use some to cover electives, however for his major courses we didn’t apply all.
My son mentioned that what he learned in AP Chem in the first half of high school was taught in 3 weeks at the college level. So be careful how advanced you want to go. AP HS level was not equal to College level.
Our expected book costs given by the net calculator for Fall/Spring was $2420, but we only spent about $1100 for both semesters. So, there are places to cut costs. YMMV on travel expenses, but this another area to cut some down.
Also, in the Fall /Spring the meal plan can be lowered or increased pretty much at any point based on how many meals one chooses to eat. We found meal plan 4 worked the best for my son. We added about $100 during the last two weeks to cover a few more meals until the end of the semester. Once your child moves off campus this cost can be further reduced.
Just wanted to throw in another option for some folks maybe down the road. My son ended up participating in a SURP locally last summer, but also managed to take an online PSU CH E course that he needed. Although I had my reservations, the process and end result turned out positive from the the ease of registering, quality of instruction, support of professor and the actual convenience having the tests proctored. https://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/courses/find-a-course It’s worth a review and something to keep in mind for the future.
Agree with PERplexD re: savings books and meals.