How much does it add up to?
Typically on a school’s tuition/financial aid page, they have this broken down. They should definitely give you something after March 10 to explain it all before you commit, even if they don’t have it on their website. One of my daughter’s schools has this breakdown of “additional fees”:
Additional Fees
There are additional charges for programs. Read more for details.
XX’s tuition covers:
- Books
- Meals
- Athletic uniforms
- Off Campus Programs – for Boarding students only
Students are responsible for:
- Laptop, calculator (every student is required to have a laptop and they are also encouraged to have an iPad with an Apple Pencil for math/science classes) Plus a graphing calculator for advanced math classes.
- School supplies
- Dorm supplies
- Gear associated with your sport/afternoon activity (examples: stick, cleats, mouthguard, water bottle, bike, helmet, skis, boots)
- Transportation to/from school
- Costs associated with Weekend Activities
- Day students are responsible for the cost of Off Campus Programs
Optional items for purchase:
- Warm up clothing or travel gear for sports teams
- School-branded apparel
Academic fees:
- Materials for some arts classes (ceramics)
- Private music lessons
- PSATs, SATs, ACTs
- Sometimes field trips
Athletics/Afternoon Activities:
There are no additional fees associated with the majority of our afternoon activities. However, the following do have additional costs:
- Eastern USS/FIS Skiing ($3,100 + race costs)
- Alpine Skiing - Varsity/JV ($900)
- Developmental Skiing/Snowboarding ($900)
- Competitive Freeski/Snowboarding ($2,700)
- Rowing ($400)
- Equestrian Competition ($600)
- Fall/Spring Horsemanship ($750)
Other fees:
- Flu Shots
- Transportation to local doctor appointments
- Charter bus to Boston on travel days
- Prom
- Yearbook
You can see where, depending on a student’s travel costs, chosen sports, and what dorm supplies they need to buy, it can vary a lot from student to student. And other schools might do things differently, like give each student a laptop instead of asking them to buy one (my daughter’s current school does this and each student is assigned a MacBook Pro when they enter and they return it when they leave). Also, as an overseas family, there are often additional costs associated with that - for example, some schools will require those families to purchase a specific medical insurance plan or to pay an “international student fee” (even if the student is a US passport holder living overseas) that covers transportation to airports, visa assistance if needed, special programming, and more.
That’s a lot of extras! That definitely depends on the school, too. But this list is very comprehensive for schools that don’t pick up much of anything. Many schools with FA offers also have some money for computers and books for those students, even if it isn’t fully met need.
2 Likes
Yes, great point! Another one of my daughter’s schools has this listed under extra fees:
Families are responsible for books, supplies, some athletic equipment, personal expenses, and travel. On average these costs run between $800 and $1,200 per year.
But, they also charge a $1000/kid yearly “general fee” that would probably cover most of those other costs from the first school I posted (except those really large sports fees for the premier sports at the first school). They don’t mention anything about a computer, so I’m assuming that is an additional cost at this school as well.
And the international student fee is $3000 at this school. Very hefty.
2 Likes
It depends on the school and if you get financial aid. My DD’s school does not charge any fees for books, and gives everyone a mac book that they get to keep after 4 years. What has been our biggest expense is travel to and from. We but it’s 8 hours so lots of hotel costs. There are extras like school sponsored Spring Break and Summer trips, that are subsidized for those on financial aid at her school, as is additional coaching for her EC.
3 Likes
Right. Some schools have computer and books for everyone in the cost. Others have stipends for those who are FA of any level. Even kids on FA if they want to play a sport and don’t have means for equipment needed, they can get that some places, as well. There really are a variety. Certainly travel will be a big one (again though, some students on FA can get stipends for that as well!). You have to really research each school and YOUR costs because it will be individually tailored.
1 Like
At our school, the % of financial aid will also be applied to “other” costs incurred through the school.
Books, yearbook, prom, Winterim (Big expense. On campus courses are around $300, while off campus trips can go up to 8K.)
Also factor in hotels and travel for Parents Weekends and other visits. The most unexpected inconvenience for me was that students usually return from breaks on a Tuesday and parent events start 8:00 am on Friday which resulted in quite a few days off of work.
6 Likes
That surprised me too!
Another head-scratcher for us was the expensive Miami crew spring training trips where training ended a few days before the dorms re-opened after spring break, so our son had nowhere to go in the gap. This was not a problem for students who lived within driving distance of the school and could fly home from training, but it made no sense for us to fly our son from Miami to AZ (home) for two nights and then back to CT. Fortunately, DH happened to be in New York two of those years so ChoatieKid could stay with him and take the train back to campus, one year a lovely CC parent took him in for the weekend, and another year he was able to stay with a local family. Not the best logistics.
3 Likes
Another thing that reminds me. Long Winter weekend when campus shuts down for a 4 day weekend literally a few weeks after Winter break. It caught me by surprise the first year (last year), and they let her stay with a few International students who couldn’t go home because of Covid. This year she went with a friend, but that could be another expense so soon after the holidays.
2 Likes
The biggest expense for us is optional but it didn’t hit my radar when applying to BS, and it’s not a insignificant amount.
Varsity sports training trips to somewhere usually warmer than New England.
In no way are these required. But kids who are on the team and most varsity or aspirational varsity kids seem to attend, (except perhaps of a handful of upper classmen who are going on college tours). Kids on financial aid do get a % paid for, in proportion to their aid percentage. The team does some training, competes against some local teams, bonds, goes out for dinner, and stays in a hotel. Those costs add up.
The fall pre-season training typically happens on the Deerfield campus (and is therefore cheaper) but has the same timing issue that ChoatieMom described. A few days of training the week before school starts, and then a few days when Deerfield sends the athletes away/back home before bringing students onto campus in their staggered arrival dates. This is understandable but causes some logistics issues for international and far-flung families.
Spring training is better timed. Athletes go to Florida mid way through spring break, train with their teams, and then fly directly back to Deerfield campus to start spring term. There are at least five large varsity teams training at various Orlando locations. Deerfield doesn’t charter the return plane flight but there is a high percentage of the entire student body on one flight.
It all sounds fantastic for the kids. But it’s $$$, and I am slightly salty about spending even less time with my kid.
4 Likes
I’ll answer this directly. Including all the team trips and incidentals everyone has listed above plus all the round-trip flights to our far-flung home, Choate cost us an additional $8K/year. But, we did save on tuition insurance (did anyone mention that?) as Choate bakes that into the tuition. 
ETA: No worries for FA families, though. As @MacJackAttack mentioned, FA covers much of these costs, and Choate also has a Beyond the Classroom fund (available to any student who needs it, FA or no) to ensure that all students can participate fully in the life of the school without undue hardship.
2 Likes
Some parents talking about the hotel cost. Is it possible for the student to fly from/to school alone and take care of everything by themself? I understand the intitial trip need help from parents.
Yes, many to most do, especially from further away.
In many ways, after the first freshman drop off, the involvement of the parent is more for the parent than the kid – or so DS would say. Returning students know the ropes. Is it nice to send your mom off to the supermarket to stock up on snacks or to get a new desk lamp at Target? Sure. And yeah, it’s nice if your parents take you out for a meal, but you might be just as eager to hang with friends. Parent travel doesn’t have to be a regular expense. Of course, if you are within driving distance, your parents are almost certainly involved!
1 Like
A lot of students will fly alone the issue can be when flights do not align with opening/closing of school and you need to spend a night in a hotel before or after a flight. No hotel will let a minor checkin alone so you’ve now compounded the costs bc a parent has to do some traveling as well. Or if you are drivable but still a 6-10 hr drive and dorms close at say, noon. Even if you want to get up at 2 am to be there in plenty of time to pick up, do you want to spend 12-20 hrs on the road without stoping? No, you need a hotel somewhere. So it will vary (just like college pickup and drop offs for some families).
3 Likes
A tangent to this topic but important for consideration as I believe it was mentioned in another reply - please check the schools calendar for all holidays - the “long weekends” where students need to vacate the dorms often come as a surprise to new families especially if home is a distance (especially plane ride) away and it is often on the family to find accommodations for their child. At my son’s school, parents will travel to the school and take their child to a “local” destination and stay in a hotel for those weekends as a “mini vacation” which may need to be budgeted for…
2 Likes
Oh, that is surprising. I thought the dorm allows a few days beyond school closing/opening, is it not the case?
I’m sure it depends on the school but there may be fee to arrive early/stay late and it would likely need to be arranged ahead of time.
At my school (avoiding commenting on some dorm-related stuff, as I am a day student):
Covered:
- Meals
- Athletic Uniforms
- There are no extra fees for playing any sports in-season
- Some school and house-branded merchandise (you get one free house shirt per year, a yearly shirt from student council, and a senior shirt all for free)
- Flu shot
- Dorms only close during long (≥1 week) breaks, so students are never “stranded” during the term. I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I believe some international students without local connections are also given “host” day students as extra people they can stay with if need be. Heads of House are also super nice, and I know people who have stayed in the dorms when they’re technically closed because the HoH was willing to take them in for a day or two.
Not Covered:
- Books (stipend for financial aid students)
- Laptop (covered for financial aid students, regardless of how much they’re getting iirc. I believe they get enough to buy the latest MacBook)
- Calculator
- School supplies (although if you just ask a teacher/the Library, they’ll give those to you)
- Most school and house-branded merchandise
- Some art classes have a studio fee
- Prom
- Yearbook
- Harkness travel trips (completely optional; stipend for financial aid students)
- Sports training trips (only two or three spring sports have these)
1 Like
Many schools don’t allow students to stay on campus before/after term dates. It raises an issue with security and supervision. I have heard that for the long breaks (winter and spring), there may be an option to stay for one night and then take the shuttle to Logan in the early morning to catch the long distance flights to Asia.
I do know that during covid, some of the international students were allowed to stay on campus over the breaks because of travel related problems and quarantine but, as far as I know, that no longer happens.
1 Like