Kid has been admitted to an ivy and several other great schools. We’re in the process of comparing financial aid offers. My process has been to add Tuition + Housing + Meals/Board and then subtract Grants. In an effort to compare apples to apples, I have been ignoring variable costs such as books and travel (all are driving distance.) I’ve also been ignoring the loans that have been offered.
Is this a reasonable approach? I know that schools have different fees that can definitely add up but I’m assuming those fees would be comparable (is that a bad assumption?)
I would also include fees…at Harvard, for example, mandatory fees include: student health fee (separate from health insurance) $1,206, student service fee $3,109, and student activities fee $200. Contrast that with Bowdoin that has a student activity fee of $264/semester and class dues of $30-$60/semester. Of course, Bowdoin’s tuition is higher than Harvard’s.
It’s a reasonable approach IF you’ve checked to make sure that your kid’s current health insurance meets each college’s requirements. I agree that a lot of the variable costs are either trivial or you can find a way to save… but insurance is the big ticket item. Don’t get caught short when the bill comes due if your coverage won’t work for your kid!!!
I would also not ignore loans at this stage. Parent plus loans are to be approached with caution- but the federal limits on your kid’s loans are realistic, AND may help you a lot with cash flow. I’ve got a relative who is anti-loan- but is about to use a HELOC for his kid’s senior year and it’s not at all clear from running the numbers that this is the best way to go for a one year, relatively short-term cash crunch. So you have to compare apples to apples on the best way to finance your own financial requirement. A modest loan? Might be right.
That student health services fee that is separate from health insurance is imbedded into fees at most schools. Some make it a separate line item and some just include it in the “tuition and fees” line item. There is also a document fee at most schools. Sometimes it is included in the global extra fees and sometimes it is added on after the fact.
I was comparing costs for graduate programs at two schools and one included “campus expansion initiative” and “facility enhancement” in their fees.
I’d include fees that can’t be waived. Some fees like parking or athletic tickets should be eliminated, but many schools have $2000 or more in fees each semester and they are required, so compare them as you would tuition. One of my kids had fees of $525 every semester but the other kid’s were closer to $1000 (her tuition was a lot lower and the fees included a lot)
The federal student loans available should be the same at every school ($5500) .
Or, even if it does, whether it can be convenient to use at the college.
The usual example is that Kaiser is popular in California, but the closest Kaiser facility to UCSB is about 40 miles away, which used to require that students have medical insurance usable at providers within some distance less than 40 miles from UCSB. After lots of complaining, the restriction was relaxed, but it would be quite inconvenient for a UCSB student with Kaiser insurance to get covered medical care.
That’s a good process, as long as you also include fees in the totals. If a school requires expensive flights back & forth while others don’t, you’ll want to figure that in, too.
The challenge is that it can be difficult to determine the fees. For example, one school has a Matriculation Fee (one time) and no other fees listed. Another school lists Activity Fee, Lab Fee,
Technology Fee and Miscellaneous (whatever that is.) Neither lists anything for health - however - a third school lists Health and Student Activities Fees.
The schools are all within the area covered by our health insurance, however, I may decide to enroll in the school insurance if it simplifies the process of going to the school health center. But, that’s a separate decision.
If the student will commute to the college, replace room and board with live-at-home costs plus commuting costs.
If the norm of residential students at the college is to live off-campus after frosh year, investigate the cost of off-campus housing options, which may be more variable than the easily findable dorm costs. Food costs outside of all-you-can-eat meal plans can also be more variable.
Be sure to consider whether tuition may be increased or a surcharge / fee added if the student declares specific majors, or reaches upper division class standing.
Add in all mandatory fees. Those will be billable costs to the college just like room board tuition. Fees vary from college to college. Don’t assume required fees are the same everywhere.