Hello!
The published cost of attendance at Alabama was consistently posted an annual average of $800 per year for fees. Is this figure close for an engineering major? Are there any non-academic fees that I should be aware of that the school will charge? (meal plans, recreation, etc.) I just want to be prepared and not have a big bill to pay in fees that we were not anticipating. Thanks!!!
No “hidden fees”, they are all posted in black and white.
Read as much as you can on the website. What may be a cost to one person might not matter to you therefor you won’t spend the money.
Some things you may not have thought of would be:
I’ll post again if I think of anything else.
I just checked my daughter’s bill for fall and spring semester. The total: $679 in course fees, $650 for Dining Dollars (can be refunded if not used), $76 for football tickets, $285 for commuter parking permit. That’s it.
$800 in course fees per year for engineering is about consistent with what my son has paid over the past 4 years.
Thanks everyone! @Class2012Mom I am glad that number is close for engineering majors. It’s a relief 
I just read on another post of you get a mailbox on campus it is around $150. I sure don’t remember all three fees when I went to school, of course that was around 23 years ago. 
^^ A mailbox on campus is far from a necessity for most students. You can receive packages without having a mailbox, and with texting, e-mail, online bill pay and the like, many kids will never get mail. That said, my daughter did have a PO box freshman year (a waste, in retrospect) and I think it was $50 a semester. The price could have gone up, though.
From what I understand a mailbox seems like a waste of $120…everything I need from bank and credit card statements is electronic for me. I want to avoid misc. expenses as much as possible to be economical
We just shipped anything important in small box and avoided having to pay for a mailbox. Worked out fine.
@LucieTheLakie that actually sounds pretty resourceful! Thank you!
@atomicPACMAN07, it’s just one of many great tips that have been passed along to CC families for quite some time!
@LucieTheLakie I’m confused. If you don’t have a mailbox how can they receive the small box?
@bandmomof3, the Ferguson Mail Center does not charge students for packages delivered there. You just come in with your tracking number/receipt and they hand you your item. As long as you make sure to include your student’s correct mailing code, you’ll have no issues. (Nothing is delivered directly to dormitories for security purposes, so every student is issued a mailing code/address.)
Aside from numerous small packages shipped during the school year, we shipped several huge boxes from PA for move-in, and the mail center had everything waiting for us on a cart.
Bama excels at “supply chain management”! 
(More here: http://campusmail.ua.edu/ferguson.html)
The key is you don’t need to pay for a mailbox if you get trackable Mail. So that can also be envelopes not just packages…whatever has a tracking number.
Course fees – Yes, under $800 per academic year. My son is in engineering. Paid around $750 freshman year and about $700 soph year.
My S’s course fees per year were: $704, $592, $924, and $640.50, respectively.