<p>Someone please correct me if I am wrong but this meal plan is a killer. As a freshman I have to pay, for my daughter, a minimum of $2,700.00 a yr for her to eat 10 meals a week or approx $325.00-350.00 a month. My wife spends on average $1f… My wife usually spends $650.00-$750.00 a month for everything that can be bought at wally world for a family of 5. I don’t see the amount we spend going down much either due to her not being at home. While on this topic, again correct me if I am wrong but daughter is staying at Lakeside and total bill for this dorm is $32,000. a yr or $3,500-$4,000.00 a month for quarters that would be $1,000.00-$1,500.00 at most on the ouside</p>
<p>I think you have the cost of the dorm incorrect. A four bedroom unit at Lakeside is $4,050.00 a semester, or $8100 a year (nine months) which would be $900/month utilities included.</p>
<p>Am I incorrect about the dorm? I assumed this $4050.00 was for each person. If this is for all rooms then it is not bad at all and my wallet is smiling if I am incorrect.</p>
<p>You were correct if you were talking about the total cost of the unit, it would be $4050 X 4 people. I thought you were talking about your daughters bill.</p>
<p>woolif,</p>
<p>Yes, Freshman yr a food plan and on campus housing are required.
BamaMomof3 has the correct cost for Lakeside.
($4050.00 per person and per semester)
There are cheaper dorms available.
Freshman minimum dining plan is “Bama Silver” - $1,350 per semester
(160 meals @ $ 8.44 per meal) Common for students to snack and then eat one large meal a day. I saw kids spend the entire afternoon studying and grazing the salad bars.</p>
<p>Freshman Dining/housing - It’s required, its expensive, its the same at most Universities, It’s also only required Freshman yr. After that a cheap apartment and home cooked meals ala’ Wallyworld are the budget option.</p>
<p>For comparison:
Ohio State University charges $3705/yr for 300 meals = $12.35 per meal
A dorm similar (but not as nice) to Lakeside would be $6960/yr at OSU</p>
<p>Woolif … the fact that it’s only required for Freshman year is certainly a mitigating factor if finding cheaper housing and food options is a major concern over the entire 4 years. As gojack indicated, many Universities have similar policies and many are more expensive than UA. I know some of the schools we were looking at, especially some of the smaller privates, mandated living on campus longer than just freshman year and cost in excess of $10,000 per year per student. Also, it’s not really relevant to compare what the University is “collecting” for the entire suite (rate x 4), since those facilities cannot really be compared to private apartment style housing. Costs are greater and include the other services and staff that make the dorms run, provide security, etc. And relative to “value”, I’d rather pay the $4000 for one of the private bedroom, 4 person mini-apartment suites than what I experienced in college, which was more akin to stuffing 2 guys in a closet and calling it a dorm room! 
I told my D that she CANNOT complain since she’s basically living in the Taj Mahal.</p>
<p>In the end, you have to figure the “all in” cost of education
Different schools require different charges and fees.
If its a required fee, it doesn’t really matter if they call it ‘Housing’ or ‘Student Activity Fee’- it’s required. Just compare total cost, and watch out for unexpected fees.</p>
<p>If we are talking about a State school, like UA,
it’s subsidized by the taxpayers and does not turn a profit.</p>
<p>Guess I am a little frustrated is all. Was thinking our Florida Prepaid plan was going to last a little longer than it is. I still think 32K is to much to charge for a dorm that consist of 4 bedrooms, two baths, common living room and kitchen area. I know now that I will have to buy a house there next year and rent the rooms out. Will surely be able to make the mortgage payments and very possibly have free housing for daughter</p>
<p>*for quarters that would be $1,000.00-$1,500.00 at most on the ouside *</p>
<p>first of all…
You’d have a hard time finding a nice 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom apt on the outside for 1,000-1500 per month. My son will be in a 5 bedroom place this year and his share of the rent is about $600 per month plus utilities. So, his 5 bedroom place is costing 3,000 per month PLUS utilities.</p>
<p>secondly…
You’d have a hard time finding any apt with the type of security that Bama offers…interior corridors, security entrances, etc.</p>
<p>thirdly…
No frosh has to choose a Super Suite dorm…they could choose a standard suite for much less</p>
<p>Fourthly…
these are pretty much the going rates at colleges with this kind of housing…Schools are considered “deep pockets” for lawsuits, so a chunk is going towards insurance.</p>
<p>Lastly…
Even if you choose a Super Suite or on-campus housing the first year, you don’t have to after that.</p>
<p>Yes…some do buy small homes and rent out rooms after frosh year. That’s a viable option. :)</p>
<p>My sister would laugh at this because she’s paying 8800 for her son’s share in a 10 bedroom “super suite” at Vandy. So, that suite is costing 88,000 per year. Wow!</p>
<p>BTW…the meal plan is only expensive the first year…after that…you can get by VERY cheaply. And, you can’t compare the cost of unprepared food with prepared food. If your wife is preparing that food, her “labor cost” and utility/energy costs are not being included in your home food bill…and the cost to keep up those dining halls have a value as well.</p>
<p>Dining halls cannot operate like homes…they have to throw out food after a certain number of minutes. They can’t reserve leftovers, etc. There is a lot waste because of health laws.</p>
<p>Oh, my. It is this thinking that drives our economy in New Orleans. Tulane parents think it’s cheaper to buy a house for junior to attend for four years. I wish my mom and dad would have bought me a half a million dollar house in a gorgeous neighborhood to live in during college.</p>
<p>But seriously, you’re paying for peace of mind in dorms and meal plans. Some parents suck it up for one year, some for four years. Others are grateful they can get on campus housing and meals for their child so they don’t have to constantly send them money for food or worry if the landlord is going to fix the broken toilet or all the other wonderful things we as adults have to deal with in everyday life. </p>
<p>Good Lord, the Vandy bill is unreal, but not surprising. As they say, even the name sounds expensive.</p>
<p>In the end, woolif, you have to do what is best for you, your family, and your child. </p>
<p>Wishing you much luck with this, and please, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. We have a great community here who are always willing to help each other out.</p>
<p>i compare the total cost of schools. and the PP is right, you can choose a cheaper dorm if you want to save costs.</p>
<p>when all is said and done, sending my DD to UA on scholarship costs about half of what i would pay for an in-state school in my state.</p>
<p>The first year at Bama is the most expensive because of the meal plan and housing req’t. (many other schools have similar rules). </p>
<p>My younger son chose to be on campus for 2 years and now off-campus for the last 2. In hindsight, we probably should have bought something for years 2-4.</p>
<p>Room and board is a pricey luxury…that subject comes up all the time on College Confidential. Sending kids away to school is a luxury. Most families can only have their kids commute to the local public. Living at home is much, much cheaper.</p>
<p>^^^LOL, not at my house! The big guy is eating me out of house and home!</p>
<p>Montegut: You need to tell your son to switch to a cereal-dominated diet. Cereal’s always on sale. A couple of boxes a week and two gallons of milk. I get away cheap with Son #2, and he needs to eat nearly 3,000 calories a day to keep himself ready for distance running.</p>
<p>^^^LOL, momreads. That’s a lot of Wheaties!</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, the cost of my dorm room was more than my parents were paying on their mortgage, though one has to realize that they were paying 1989 housing costs versus the 2010-2011 housing costs for my dorm room. Location is also a huge difference; I know many people who would like to rent out rooms in their homes, but as they aren’t close to universities or a bus line, they can’t find a renter willing to pay anything remotely near the prices they could get if their home was near a college.</p>
<p>As for dining hall prices, Bama Dining likes to compare its prices to those of Golden Corral (sadly, there are none in Tuscaloosa) and mentions that one gets unlimited drinks with each meal. However, apart from being on a cruise or in Las Vegas, one doesn’t normally eat two buffet meals per day. Still, it’s difficult to find the same quantity of food and drink for a similar price at a restaurant near campus. As much as I’d like to find a good steak dinner for $4.99 in Tuscaloosa, it’s not going to happen. I can certainly eat cheaper at my home, but I have the luxuries of cheaper grocery stores and economies of scale that I don’t have in Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>In short, I’ll reference the legal disclaimer that was posted at the bottom of my tuition and housing bills this summer (at a different university): “a portion of fees will be used to finance student events and activities.” Buying pizza for the dorm isn’t cheap and you can bet that the people planning the events don’t spend their time clipping coupons in order to save an extra $5, if the event contract permitted the use of coupons at all.</p>
<p>Our older 2 children lived together off campus for 4 years from 2004-2008. They lived in an older apartment, 2br/2ba. The rent went up in 3 of the 4 years by $50/75 per increase. Our expenses for off campus living were not better, but probably about the same. I am sure it IS easier if you aren’t the parent of ALL the tenants, lol, but if you are breaking it down per person, idk if it is that much cheaper. There are still other expenses like furnishings, cable/internet, power, water, automotive expenses (including parking tickets) etc. During the day they often ate on campus because they didn’t dare move the car until time to go home! Parking for commuters is not easy.
I also have to wonder if prices may go up in the apartments that are still there post tornado damage due to increased demand.</p>
<p>My older son just contracted with an apt near his grad school (another state). It’s a 2 bedroom, 2 bath…only the bedroom is furnished…not the living room.</p>
<p>His “share” is $770 per month. I don’t know if that includes water and electricity. I hope so.</p>
<p>He and his roommate will have to figure out how to furnish the living room. I hope the roomie has a couch. lol I don’t want to buy a new one, and I don’t want to drag a couch from our house halfway across the country!</p>
<p>I have had people give me horror stories of moving into filthy apartments, dealing with seedy neighborhoods, working with shady landlords, and getting stuck with full rent when a room mate decides to leave in the middle of a lease. Staying in university dorms has some real advantages, especially very nice dorms like those offered by UA.</p>