<p>We were planning to visit schools in another part of the US from where we live. I nearly fainted when I looked at the new airline fares (including student fares which weren't less expensive). I am wondering whether these will be reflected accurately in the average COA of a school. Spending 2-3k per year in flights/travel, and having a school say that travel expenses on average is $500/year doesn't cut it for us. It might be $500/year if one lives within an hour of the school, which some students do. Perhaps the average is accurate when 50% of a school comes from within state, even if some of those within the state drive 4 hours between homes and the school. There are some students who drive 20 minutes to get home. Then there are those who are adding diversity to a school by flying in from other parts of the country. Today, I don't think that allowing $500, or $700 for travel is accurate any longer for those who do have to spend much more. There is a huge gap between average cost of transportation within the COA and the realistic cost.</p>
<p>DS attends University of Michigan and we also live in the NE. Last year I paid $330 to fly him from Detroit to Laguardia, which I thought was outrageous. This year the fair is between $650-$750. He will have his car on campus and will drive home for winter break, but Thanksgiving is too short to drive. I am going to have to pay this exobitant amount to have him home, but if fares don't come down I will reconsider where my 10th grader looks for schools. The bottom line is that if you have to fly back and forth for breaks, you have to estimate $1500 to come home three times a year,</p>
<p>michone, I feel your pain! We have a 10th grader, and we were considering another part of the country. I feel that the merit/FA package needs to compensate for these insanely high travel costs. It is a real problem.</p>
<p>Never traveled home for Thanksgiving....never for Spring Break and for the summer it was a brief trip scheduled when airfare was the lowest.</p>
<p>In my Ss COA from Stanford they allotted $960 for travel (this was before all of the price increases), which would give 2 round trips from the Midwest. He'll probably need 3 round trips for his freshman year. We have partial FA, so only part of that is covered by the school.</p>
<p>The state school where he was admitted is several hours drive away, and that COA did not include travel expenses. He got no FA there, so maybe that is why.</p>
<p>^^^ I agree. Fares have really increased! My daughter flies home to NYC from her college in Pittsburgh. Last year we could get a round trip for $150 or so. Now it's routinely $350. We're looking into having her take a bus or Amtrak next time, but those are nine-hour trips as opposed to a little over an hour on JetBlue.</p>
<p>Also, another factor to consider is move-in and move-out. We drive her the 380 miles to Pittsburgh in the fall and home again in the spring. For each trip we have to allot at least $600: one night in hotel ($225; yes, the rates are jacked up at that time of year); $175 for two days of a rental Jeep or SUV; $100 meals; $125 gasoline; $40 tolls. So plan accordingly!</p>
<p>Likewise...I have 2 kids who fly to school and the cost has become exorbitant. Factor in flying them to/from the most convenient airports (important for short breaks and in winter weather) without connecting flights (available, but VERY expensive) and our travel costs have probably increased $1-2,000 year. Now my S will probably drive out to school next year, but with gas prices, even in a Honda Civic it will be very costly. And even with that he will fly for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can now see the efficacy of pursuing schools closer to home, at least for travel purposes.</p>
<p>If a student does not have a car, how many parents are going shell out for a used car to save some money on airfare? The gas is still $4.00/gallon. I see this as a real obstacle without a change in FA for families who cannot afford all of these outrageous expenses.</p>
<p>I can see your logic but where I went to school a parking place for that hooptee was $150/mo and then you add insurance plus maintenance expense. Forget the car. It can be a nice luxury and for some summer jobs it works out nicely but I am an urban dweller who thinks only in terms of walky walky and mass transit.</p>
<p>For those on FA I feel certain you can approach your FA officer with receipts for booked travel, make an appeal and get your budget increased. The bigger issue becomes will this increase come in the way of grants, loans or work study?</p>
<p>hazmat, it was your reasoning about the car, that had my own parents send me to college in an urban location. They felt that they would rather put the costs of having a car into my education. We save significantly on auto insurance in our state if our children do not have a car at school at are XYZ miles from home.</p>
<p>For financial aid purposes, most colleges include a travel allowance for COA which typically is based on two round trips per year, for the student traveling alone. For those who live at a distance, a reasonable economy air fare seems to be used as the base. This is an individualized figure, not the same as the average COA that might be posted on a web site.</p>
<p>My daughter has traveled by herself for trips to/from her campus. I have actually visited twice, but of course that was an optional trip,not something that I see as the college's responsibility. There is no need for my d. to make more than 2 trips -- the dorms at her college are open over spring break, and her freshman year she stayed there; her sophomore year she went traveling on her own. </p>
<p>I guess if you want your kids coming home more frequently, or if you feel that you have to travel with them, then that is something that you should consider in terms of overall costs. But as far as COA, 2 round trip fares for the student seems to me to accurately reflect what NEEDS to be spent to attend the college. Coming home for short breaks or having other family members travel to/from the college might be nice, but its an optional expense that obviously does not have to be undertaken by those who can't afford it.</p>
<p>A car wouldn't help my cross country kid get home. She is across the country. For shorter breaks, she stays more locally with family there. It will cost us almost $600 to fly her home at Christmas largely because the term resumes Jan 5 (Monday) and the 3, 4 are both blackout dates and high price dates. You would think the colleges might consider having classes start on a Wed or Thurs to help kids with these travel costs....and certainly NOT the holiday weekend. BTW...last year...$299 round trip.</p>
<p>thumper, she is fortunate to have family in CA.</p>
<p>gladmom (#6), this is what we heard from Stanford. They do estimate the travel cost for 2 round trip fares and put that in the COA. </p>
<p>COA - family contribution = FA amount</p>
<p>They say that if student could show the fares (with receipts) are higher than their estimation, they will adjust the COA number. Since the family contribution remains the same, they are essentailly reimbusing you the higher travel cost.</p>
<p>We did the admitted week by frequent flyer mileages so three tickets costed us a whole $30. If we had more time to plan, we could fly out from DAY to SFO for about $260 round trip.</p>
<p>According to my estimates, East-West travel costs are closer to $3K. I just bought D's Thanksgiving travel and paid a lot (chose direct flights). Good thing I did - the prices went up from there (they might go down if there will be no takers, but I'm not going to gamble). If airfare keeps going up like it does, D will have to find some local friends in Boston! May be we should set up a holiday kid exchange program?</p>
<p>We have the opposite East/West situation of thumper. DS only comes home for the long Christmas break...Thanksgiving, Easter, smaller holidays he is pretty good at finding a friend who will take him in. Luckily he is pretty social and doesn't seem to have any problem with finding offers...DD wants to stay in CA when she goes in '10....we may end up with some East Coast kids here for those holidays....works for me.</p>
<p>While some called us provincial, for older D schools were limited to those within 3-4 hour drive. ( note: that was a criteria we both arrived at)</p>
<p>While seven years ago we didn't anticipate that gas would be $4.20 :eek: a gal and that wages would be stagnant, it wasn't hard to think it would be easier and less expensive if there were alternatives to flying back and forth to college.( plus you can share costs with other students, not something you find with airfare)</p>
<p>Finding a school with good public transportation alternatives to get around the area was a priority as well. D didn't have a car, didn't want to have the expense and hassle.</p>
<p>D#2 also stuck to this coast ultimately, although distance wasn't as strong a criteria. She does recognize though that by expanding her choices to schools that are less than 500 miles away, she cuts on the time and hassle involved with getting to and from school during breaks, which can add up and spent in more pleasant ways. ( she would rather spend her flight time from Amsterdam to Accra than back and forth from Seattle to St. Louis ;) )</p>
<p>They recognized that if they * had* to attend a school that was more expensive to travel to, then things could be cut in other areas, but as it is, I know my oldest appreciate that she was close enough that friends from high school could visit her on the way to & from their own schools & that her friends and family could come visit for special events & performances.</p>
<p>It is nice to have options like the train which can be cheaper than driving- although just as dependent on traffic.</p>
<p>I noticed that some schools group transportation costs into personal expenses. Not everyone's travel cost is equal. One school that I found allows $2100 for personal expenses. These expenses are defined as laundry, recreation, weekend meals, long distance telephone calls, and transportation. I can tell you that if my son had a car at that school or any other school, the auto insurance alone would be at least $1500.</p>
<p>We lucked out in that DD's school is on a Southwest Airlines route. That keeps the airfares low. I just checked for the return this summer and we can still do round trip for under $250. Considering the cost of gas these days, not too bad. Also they have a really god student plan and DD already earned a free round trip. So see if the schools they are interested in are on a SW route.</p>
<p>Great idea Singersmom, Schools that are served by Southwest! They might be more popular then the colleges that change lives. :) </p>
<p>I know we were very glad that happened after my daughter started at her college. It was great to be able to have her drive one way and fly another and to be able to change the flight if she needed to.</p>