<p>Hello,</p>
<p>When a college has an estimated cost of attendance of let's say 50 000$, should you plan on another extra 1 000$ or something like that or do most colleges estimate their COA pretty well and you will most probably not need any more money?</p>
<p>No, actually it is the opposite.
You can reduce your textbook costs, your personal costs and your transportation costs.
The college expenses, tuition & rm & board are the only things that must be paid up front.
However, depending on where you plan to attend, transportation, especially if you need airfare, may run you quite a bit more than you planned.
[The</a> Budget Deal Is Going to Jack Up Your Airfare | TIME.com](<a href=“http://business.time.com/2013/12/11/the-budget-deal-is-going-to-jack-up-your-airfares/]The”>The Budget Deal Is Going to Jack Up Your Airfare | TIME.com)</p>
<p>One reason why both kids chose schools where they could take the train or drive.</p>
<p>It depends on the college and your program. Many schools charge variable fees for different programs and some classes have extra fees. The COA is an average across programs. If you are going into a high cost program, like engineering, at a school with lots of add on course fees, your cost will be higher than COA, while English majors may pay less than that. You can find these things listed at registrar or someplace on college’s site if you want to get a better idea. Some schools charge for extra credit hours above a certain limit, say 18, so that if you trying to squeeze in a dbl major or a couple of minors and packing in the hours, that will increase costs. You can see that at registrar also.</p>
<p>As EK says, other costs you have more control over and can reduce if you’re careful.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that costs go up year to year, and the COA you are generally seeing on the websites during senior year of HS is for the current academic year, not your freshman year of college.</p>
<p>I think an incoming frosh who is going “away” to college may need to estimate that costs could exceed the COA a bit.</p>
<p>Often, there are things to buy for the dorm, maybe a new laptop is needed, maybe the college is in an area with MUCH colder climate so some appropriate clothes/shoes must be purchased, maybe the travel costs were not well-estimated in the COA (i’ve seen some REALLY low travel estimates in COAs!!!). Of course, travel costs would be for all four years. </p>
<p>Plus there always seems to be some unexpected expenses. Something breaks, gets lost/stolen or whatever.</p>
<p>Unexpected expenses may be higher than in high school.
More loss, more theft.
It certainly would be recommended to take out insurance.
But then if you spent much time at the mall as part of your high school social life, you might find that with your friends on campus, you could save alot of money!
Unless your college is next to a ski resort, as my younger daughters school is.
Then…</p>
<p>Mom2, true. If you go far away and fly, it may be cheaper to buy certain things new than transport. D bought a cheap bike, a table for dorm room as desk was too small, frig, lamps, lots of one time costs like that. Hasn’t got a printer yet, but that may happen at some point. And she’ll have summer storage costs, since not hauling all that stuff back. Don’t know if stuff like that is accounted for in COA.</p>
<p>One expense that is a surprise to new college kids (and parents) is airport shuttle costs. Many will get a handle on airfare costs, but forget to add in another $50+ each way for a shuttle. So, a trip home at Christmas can be $400 in airfare, but another $100+ in shuttles back and forth to the airport.</p>
<p>Some schools set their COA with an average tuition - but that may be low. When a school charges per credit hour, it is important to figure out if your own tuition will be higher.</p>