<p>The difference over commuters living with parents is +$7,781 for students in residence halls, and +$8,200 for students living on their own off campus.</p>
<p>Note that the commuter living with parents costs include $4,518 of room and board (presumably food and utilities consumed at home) and $1,495 transportation ($105 and $38 higher than residence halls and off campus transportation budgets). However, such costs appear to be neglected when considering college costs, even though they may be subsidized by parents of commuter students living at home. Probably this is due to such costs being distributed in other parts of the household budget (grocery costs, utility bills, etc.) rather than being part of a bill associated with the student, like a residence hall and meal plan bill. It may also be that the parents are accustomed to supporting the student as a high school senior, so they may not think of that as an additional cost, compared to an explicit bill for residence hall and meal plan. But it does mean that if the home-based room, board, and transportation costs are not considered, the cost of the student living at the school appears higher by $13,794 (residence hall) or $14,213 (off campus).</p>
<p>The question is, do students and parents mostly disregard the cost of food, utilities, and transportation that the student consumes at the parents house when comparing commuter versus residential student costs or otherwise considering college costs? Or do they think of the fact that a student who goes off to live at the college costs less at home due to not consuming food, utilities, and transportation at home?</p>
<p>Of course, living at the college generally costs more than commuting from the parents' house. But the difference may not be as large as commonly assumed.</p>
<p>Well it depends on how the student is commuting. The year I commuted from home my mom dropped me off in the morning and picked me up at night. So the transportation cost was zero. My DS14 could commute in with my husband every day since he works for a company near the college and gets there plenty early and stays late.So it wouldn’t cost anything to have him commute. However we wanted DS to have the whole college experience so he lives in the dorms. So for us it would have just been the cost of food to have him here which would be a lot cheaper.</p>
<p>These “costs” are only the monetary ones. They do not reflect the time costs of commuting, nor the missed activities because of not being on campus. Nor do they consider the social costs of not getting the on campus 24/7 experience. Parents with students away at college do notice a drop in grocery, water and electric bills (no 45 minute showers, late night computer use, huge amounts of food consumed). Our son did not make many trips home so the transportation costs were no more than those daily HS activities trips.</p>
<p>You are also using costs at only one school. We don’t know how many meals a student will eat on campus instead of at home, and the costs at a given school (some food costs are a lot cheaper at some schools than others for dorm residents). Commuter costs could vary a lot depending on distance, traffic and parking availability and costs. So many variables.</p>
<p>I know my parents found a way to allow me to live on campus instead of an 8 mile commute (academic scholarships helped also). A friend who was more well off walked 10 minutes from home to class, a lot harder for her parents to let her live in the dorms. Her mother actually worked for Res Halls located in the basement of one dorm.</p>
<p>btw- are you assuming all nondorm students would be commuters? Off campus housing can be closer than dorms to some campus buildings. My experience is UW-Madison, vastly different than even other UW system campuses in layout and culture.</p>
<p>And we should believe it costs $4500 for an approximately 8 month period why? Because this chart says so? I need more than that. I have to pay my property taxes and my mortgage no matter where my kid lives. It’s not like we’re going to stop heating our homes, doing laundry (which costs extra in a dorm), running the dishwasher, etc. just because our kid goes to college. Maybe a few (literally) extra dollars in the water bill each month for additional showers and toilet flushing and a couple of bucks for toilet paper. Other than that, it’s electricity and food - I would bet the average teen’s portion of the electric bill comes to less than $50 each month. So really what we’re talking about is food - $4000 worth of food in an eight month period. Since that’s only slightly less than I spend for my entire family on food, I can guarantee you there is no way my 17 year old daughter will be consuming $4000 of food if she commutes to college.</p>
<p>Also, don’t forget if your child goes away, she’ll most likely want some of the comforts of home in her dorm - maybe an iron, and a small fridge for instance. </p>
<p>Obviously, there are non-monetary differences in the college experience. However, in the cost and financial aid discussions, there seems to be a common assumption that the student living at home is cost-free compared to living in the dorm.</p>
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<p>No. Indeed, the example school has a residence hall and off campus resident budget in addition to a commuter budget, and that is mentioned in the first post.</p>
<p>And as I think of it, if she could charge her phone and laptop on campus, that’d actually be a little bit of savings - my electric bill could potentially go down if my daughter commutes to college! </p>
<p>Agree that you still heat your home, pay the taxes, water the grass, etc. There is some decrease in laundry so water costs and sewer costs go down alittle if you don’t have well and septic and if you are raising boys the food costs do decrease. But then you have to add the car, the gas, the car insurance, the car depreciation. No doubt it is “cheaper” not to house them in a dorm with a food plan as in the vast majority of college towns housing them off campus is alittle less expensive, but dollar for dollar I don’t think the cost difference is as large as perhaps speculated unless you live in a city with a uni AND public transportation within reach of the kids home base.</p>
<p>Maybe for some people laundry costs would go down, but I do laundry every day for the whole family. I wouldn’t suddenly not have laundry just because there’s one less person here, but I guess it depends upon whether or not you wait until you have a full load (I don’t). The other side is laundry is always more expensive in a dorm and I don’t see that reflected in the personal expenses line item. </p>
<p>Admittedly, the car is a significant expense. And if you don’t already own one and have to purchase one specifically for your student to commute that would be more expensive. But if you already have it, you’re already paying the insurance and so your big cost is gas and I suppose mile depreciation, which will vary greatly depending upon how far away the campus is and how many miles are already on your car. But the car is listed as a separate line item which I wasn’t disputing. I was calling bologna on the $4500 room and board fee.</p>
<p>For sure, the boys will eat more food than the girls, but I still think $4500 is way too steep. The room cost is negligent (I figured that was $500 of the $4500 and I think that figure is probably too high for additional water and electricity) and food is going to be significantly less than $4000 for 8 months even if the commuting student is a middle line backer. </p>
<p>It would be fun to figure it out with certainly. For me it’s 2-3 loads of laundry per kid per week, and around $70 of groceries per week or at least that is what my grocery bill went down per week when the last kid home left in August so for just room and board maybe $100 a week for food and laundry. So for 9 months they cost me maybe around $3500.</p>
<p>If mine commuted to the nearest university it is about a 50 minute drive so $60 per week in gas so maybe $2000 in gas for two semesters if they only made one trip per day. Then there would be lunch and dinner (because study groups meet at night) at probably $10-15 per day adding another $2500 per year. I currently pay roughly $8500 for room and board, he doesn’t pay for laundry except for soap because he does that at a friends place…so I’m not seeing a whole lot of savings. I’ll see savings next year when he moves off campus and all in I’m at $800 a month for apartment share and food share amount.</p>
<p>I would imagine that individual students’ live-with-parents and commuting marginal costs vary considerably, perhaps much more than the costs of students living in dorms (though off-campus resident students’ costs likely vary more than the costs of students living in dorms). It does not seem to be too difficult to come up with situations where the commuter student costs much less or much more than the amount assumed by the college’s commuter student budget for room, board, and transportation.</p>
<p>Three of my siblings commuted to a local state school at the same time. If this were today, they alone wouldn’t be costing my parents $15k per year to live at home for those 8 months. </p>
<p>I agree that often commuters combine their transportation needs. They may drive to school, and then drive to work. They may car-pool. My siblings did that. They may ride a bike or take cheap public transportation. As mentioned above, they may have a parent who can drop them off on the way to work. </p>
<p>The reason that most college students DO commute from home is because their parents are absorbing whatever costs the students do cost them at home (food, extra elec/water, etc). </p>
<p>The reason that most parents won’t pay for room/board is because they can’t justify or afford the expense. </p>
<p>Wis75…why there may be an argument for the fabulous benefits of campus living, many kids can’t afford it. What’s the alternative? not go to college? lol No, for many kids, paying for college means going to classes, going to a JOB, and then going home. That’s the way they get their degrees.</p>
<p>Even some kids who live on campus are going to jobs after classes and miss all kinds of activities. </p>
<p>It really is an upper-class situation where kids get to have a rather carefree, take advantage of all a college has to offer lifestyle.</p>
<p>Commuting costs are higher if the student needs to have an extra family car. (Comparison - DS goes to college in Boston, w/o a car. He’s managed summer jobs there without one too). Then there is cost of gas and parking (which can be $20/day on some campus lots). It’s cheaper if commuter can use public transit or at least arrange a semester parking pass. </p>
<p>For an 18 year old male, the average cost of food for 8 months is supposedly between $1,317.60 (thrifty) and $2,657.60 (gourmet). For an 18 year old female, 8 month food costs are slightly less, between $1,258.40 and $2,300.80. The “moderate cost plans” are $2,298.40 and $1,868.80 for the 18 year old male and female for 8 months.</p>
<p>Of course, this does not include food eaten away from home, or the cost of additional utilities consumed. Another variable can be the cost of car insurance if the student has a driver’s license. Some insurance companies give a “student away from home” discount on the assumption that such a student has access to the family car(s) only occasionally (during break periods). Transportation costs can vary from trivial (household lives in walking distance to the school) to fairly significant (commute to school requires a long drive, parking costs, and the need to keep an additional car in the household).</p>
<p>^^^Those food prices, which are significantly less than the $4500 listed in the chart, are not taking into account the “bulk rate” a family would be paying. The generally better value of larger sized products can be purchased because the food is less likely to spoil. As far food eaten away from home, there’s no reason a commuter can’t pack a lunch. The bottom line is that commuting to college can be as cheap or as expensive as a family wishes to make it. But a kid who costs his parents 4500 bucks in room and board alone is living like a king (and wasting a lot of power). </p>
<p>I think so. We’ve discussed d’11 moving back home for senior year (she’s SO over the dorm) to save money. We have completely disregarded the cost of her food and extra utilities. She already has a car and pays her own gas/maintenance so I wouldn’t figure extra transportation into the budget. I would consider moving back home to be “free” room and board for the last year. </p>
<p>ucb - in my case that $2500 for 8 months has nothing to do with thrifty or gourmet and more to do with a boy that is well over 6 ft. tall and a linebacker who drinks a gallon of milk every day and I won’t go into the amount of eggs, bread, cereal, sandwich meat, cheese etc. etc. that can be assumed by such a kid. Gas @ $3.50 a gallon in an older car that only get 21 miles a gallon adds up when it is well over 30 miles to the nearest uni. So halfemptypockets - totally depends on the kid whether $4500 is outrageous or a trade-off. I’m not defending sending a kid to sleep away college as Mom2 has pointed out, if you live in an urban area with close colleges and public transportation there is a big savings, but for people in rural areas raising linebackers…not so much savings. </p>
<p>But even if it costs you a lot, relatively speaking, it’s still less than the amounts in the chart, which presumably would’ve been an average amount for an average kid attending decidedly unrural San Jose State. And the room and board number is out of control for an average kid.</p>
<p>"Those food prices, which are significantly less than the $4500 listed in the chart, are not taking into account the “bulk rate” a family would be paying. "</p>
<p>I agree.</p>
<p>A family that is watching their pennies and has “big eaters” is going to Club stores and buying in bulk. you can get a ton of eggs, hamburger meat, cheese, staples, bread, pasta, pasta sauces, beans, potatoes, frozen veggies, etc, for a fraction of regular grocery store prices. </p>
<p>My mom used to say, “I can tell my Ds that I can’t afford to buy them more clothes, but I can’t tell my 4 boys that I can’t afford to feed them.” So, my mom cooked from scratch. If Costco had existed in the 60s/70s, my mom would have been shopping there on a regular basis. </p>
<p>A family trying to stretch a budget is likely going to be cooking a lot of chicken (purchased whole then cut up), hamburger, pasta, etc. Their menus will be meatloaf, spaghetti, roasted chix, hearty soups/stews, chilis, and so forth. They’re not spending $3k per person per year on food.</p>
<p>I was mistaken that the amounts provided by the government were individual. They are based on a family size of 4. </p>
<p>But the government numbers are high to somebody on a budget. I added up the thrifty plan for my family and those numbers slightly exceed our entire grocery bill which includes non food items like shampoo, tin foil, cleaning supplies, and even socks and underwear, since I do most of my grocery shopping at BJ’s and Walmart… I break out our food and non-food spending in Quicken each month so I know exactly how much we spend. We don’t eat too much processed crap either - my husband has high blood pressure and I have a tendency to gain weight quickly if I don’t eat naturally. Our teenage son does eat a lot of peanut butter, apples, bread, oatmeal, and other cereal in addition to the regular meals the rest of the family eats. </p>
<p>I really don’t think there can be any question that commuting can be much, much cheaper than living in the dorm if you’re needing to watch your pennies. Maybe I’m clouded by where I live. I’m from an urban area, so perhaps I’m not thinking about how much gas costs for those who are extremely rural. I’d be curious to know the average distance a commuter lives from his college, and how difficult it would be for the student to hitch a ride with family, neighbors, and friends. There are probably a dozen or more schools that my kids could hitch rides to for little or no cost. Colleges are some of the biggest employers in the area, so in addition to fellow students, many workers from our area travel to and from the colleges each day (I live in the Philadelphia area). I would think an ultra rural area would increase the odds that folks in the area were employed by the college, but I actually have no idea.</p>
<p>For sure, most commuting students would want their own cars (and I want a Mercedes!) and they’ll want to buy their own food and to take half hour showers and to hang out and order pizza with a late night study group, but if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it. The savings of commuting versus rooming at the school can be HUGE. And I continue to cry bologna to the room and board numbers in that chart being any sort of realistic average for a typical commuter student.</p>
<p>Those food numbers seem a little inflated to me as well. I think one issue is that some people don’t even know how to cook, or don’t want to take the time to do so. Another is that some people don’t compare prices or think about shopping economically. You don’t even need costco (we don’t have it in our area). I can buy a 7.25 oz box of Kraft macaroni and cheese in my local grocery chain. But even our local pricey upscale market sells a full pound of organic pasta for less than the Kraft costs me. </p>
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who drinks a gallon of milk every day and I won’t go into the amount of eggs, bread, cereal, sandwich meat, cheese etc. etc. that can be assumed by such a kid. Gas @ $3.50 a gallon in an older car that only get 21 miles a gallon adds up when it is well over 30 miles to the nearest uni. So halfemptypockets - totally depends on the kid whether $4500 is outrageous or a trade-off. I’m not defending sending a kid to sleep away college as Mom2 has pointed out, if you live in an urban area with close colleges and public transportation there is a big savings, but for people in rural areas raising linebackers…not so much savings. </p>