<p>Hey Rice board! I'm a transfer student and I just received an amazing financial aid letter from Rice. But I'm wondering if there are any "hidden" fees (fees other than tuition and fees, room and board, O-week, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses) that Rice is not mentioning. For example, my current school charges certain instructional fees at variable cost with each course you register for. These course fees are not included as part of tuition, but are added later when you register for a specific class. Does anything like this exist at Rice?</p>
<p>I can’t think of anything other than $0.06 per page if you wanna print using your college’s printers (although I think Lovett or something has free printing). </p>
<p>And of course, there’s no dinner on Saturday nights, no breakfast on Sunday mornings, so you have to eat out on Saturday and sleep in on Sunday.</p>
<p>I can’t speak, specifically, to what your financial aid package would or wouldn’t cover, but I can say that the lack of additional charges is something I really like about Rice. Textbooks are incredibly expensive, as they are everywhere (though students learn of sources for cheaper ones pretty quickly), but other than that, I can’t think of anything we’ve paid for beyond what what was stated up front. In fact, there are lots of free things we hadn’t anticipated, like laundry, tickets to off-campus events (symphony), $50 that gets added to your ID card each semester to spend at various places on and off campus. As parents of a Rice student, we’ve been pleasantly surprised not to be nickeled and at all.</p>
<p>I like the free public-transportation the kids get, too. And the free t-shirts that sometimes get sent my way.</p>
<p>Right! I forgot all about the free public transportation. I didn’t forget about the t-shirts. My daughter lives in those, and I considered including them in my list, but I thought they might seem trivial compared to the other things I listed. I’m glad you did it first. (-:</p>
<p>Parking is pricey.</p>
<p>My grand total Free T-Shirt count from freshman year alone: 18.</p>
<p>Damn, I hope the budget cuts won’t affect the quantity of free t-shirts…</p>
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<p>Damn sounds so awesome! Wait so Financial Aid won’t cover books at all :(. I guess that is where the additional fees come in</p>
<p>The term “free” is misleading. You are paying for these “free” things such as public transportation passes, t-shirts, tickets to off-campus events, etc, through your tuition whether you use them or not. If your paid for these “free” items on a “pay as you go” basis rather than bundled in your tuition, your tuition would be hundreds of dollars less. You could even have “free” books if you wanted to pay a higher tuition. </p>
<p>Think of it as a buffet where you are picking and choosing what you want for a fixed upfront cost, rather than paying on an itemized basis as you would in a cafeteria. </p>
<p>Either way there is no “free” lunch.</p>
<p>I doubt that tuition revenues only go toward public transportation, laundry, and t-shirts. Running, maintaining and continuously improving a school like Rice is expensive.</p>
<p>Actually I noticed an add/drop fee when perusing the Rice handbook (the one with the list of classes). It’s like $25 for an add/drop after a certain deadline and then $75 after a certain date.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s true. There’s a fee for dropping a class late in the semester, probably to discourage you from doing it, although I think freshmen get a longer grace period than you do in subsequent years.</p>
<p>As for there being no free lunch, I agree. Rice probably pays something for the free public transportation it gives to students, and they no doubt pass that along in the fees, but they probably get a much better deal than students could get on their own. Of course, that does you no good if you don’t take advantage of it. </p>
<p>Still, Rice’s total fees are lower than most schools’ of its caliber. My guess is, you’d get nickeled and dimed a lot more at schools who’s fees are already at the high end, but that’s only a guess.</p>
<p>you dont get nickeled and dimed here at all. Yes there are fees here and there - but most are associated with losing your student ID or keys etc. </p>
<p>But normally, other than books - I pay nothing more to Rice than what shows up on my bill. Laundry being included is amazing.</p>
<p>Just be prepared for miscellaneous expenses such as laundry detergent and toothpaste etc.</p>
<p>How exactly does financial aid work? For example, the cost of attendance budgets in transportation and personal expenses, so if the school covers that, do they just send me a check for that amount? Or do I send in receipts?</p>
<p>I think you just show your Rice pass and you get to ride on the transportation/museum/etc. for free…</p>
<p>that’d be my assumption</p>
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Rice will bill you for fixed costs (tuition,room and board, health insurance - unless you go online and waive it due to already having coverage, etc). If you have more financial aid than fixed costs you will get a check back for that amount. You can ask the cashier’s office about when that check comes. (Just note that the $1800 workstudy amount is earned money, so not paid out until you earn it. You need to find a workstudy job when you get to Rice - not hard to do, since there are lots of jobs, but it is up to you to apply for one…)</p>
<p>Here’s a list of the tuition and ancillary fees from 2007-8. I am sure there is a newer one-- this is just what popped up first [Rice</a> University | 2007-2008 Tuition & Fees](<a href=“http://www.students.rice.edu/students/2007-2008_Tuition__Fees.asp?SnID=2#undergradfees]Rice”>http://www.students.rice.edu/students/2007-2008_Tuition__Fees.asp?SnID=2#undergradfees). Gives you a general idea.</p>
<p>current fees etc. [Rice</a> University | Tuition & Fees](<a href=“http://www.students.rice.edu/students/Tuition_Fees.asp?SnID=2051790947]Rice”>http://www.students.rice.edu/students/Tuition_Fees.asp?SnID=2051790947)</p>
<p>Where is the best place to buy textbooks? It’s not like you can order them online because the classes aren’t picked until O-week. Correct?</p>
<p>damn I am glad I have Medicaid because if I didn’t then my entire plan would come up to be 45800+</p>