<p>than to live off-campus at one of the uc’s?(estimate)</p>
<p>Well, it costs about $11,000 per year for room/board (more accurate estimates at the college's website). The cost of off campus housing is going to vary a lot, depending on the neighborhood and such. Obviously living at home is basically free and an apartment shared with several people might be about $7000.</p>
<p>Keep in mind time living off campus. If you buy a house and live their all of your probably four years at school (and maybe even after), add the cost of buying plus the cost of living during those years. That's the cost per year, more or less. Or, perhaps you're renting, which means you don't get to resell the house afterward. You should still keep in mind utilities and food costs. Like ucapplicant05 said, it varies a lot upon area. Living in Merced probably costs a lot less than living in Westwood, La Jolla or Berkeley.</p>
<p>i mean living at home with my parents.</p>
<p>well assuming that living with your parents is free for you, take the cost of room and board minus cost of transportation (depending on how far away you live). Depending on the campus, you could probably save somewhere around $10k per year by living at home.</p>