<p>How much should I expect my costs will be to live at UA for a year? Assuming tuition is paid in full, how much money will I spend (at minimum) on housing, food, books, clothes etc?</p>
<p>[Estimated</a> Semester Budget](<a href=“http://cost.ua.edu/undergraduate-budget.html]Estimated”>http://cost.ua.edu/undergraduate-budget.html)
about 10-15,000/yr</p>
<p>That estimate includes the more expensive housing choices…which is about $3k-4k more expensive.</p>
<p>It can be hard to estimate because of personal choices.</p>
<p>If you can live with the clothes you have for a bit, then you can save there.</p>
<p>If you rent books or buy them used or online, you can save there.</p>
<p>I think the first year can be the most expensive because of the meal plan req’t.</p>
<p>Per Semester…so double for the year…</p>
<p>College/Course Fees - $365.00 (this can vary a bit depending on courses and course load).</p>
<p>Dining Dollars Account - $300.00</p>
<p>Meal Plan - $1,350.00 (only req’d frosh year - after that cheaper plans can be selected or have the option of no plan)</p>
<p>Residence Hall Room - $4,050.00 (This is for the Super Suites housing…cheaper choices available)</p>
<p>Books and Supplies - $550.00 (cheaper options listed in previous post)</p>
<p>M2CK…I saw those numbers on Alabama’s website and have a question. The college/course fees and in particular book estimate seems really low. Is Alabama making a conscious effort to decrease costs in those areas for students, and that is why they are low? Or are the average costs really that low? Most other colleges we have looked at have books at $1000-$1500, and college/course fees over $500. </p>
<p>Also, some majors will be more than that, medical in particular. Sometimes engineering/CS can be. Is there a way to find out more specifics about the costs associated with each major? </p>
<p>THanks so much!</p>
<p>Cheapest dorms are $5050/yr
Meal Plan - $2,700.00
Books/fees etc - $2,000
Dining Dollars Account - $600.00
So bare minimum is about $10,350/yr</p>
<p>Fancier dorms, meal plans, parking pass, etc., could jack that up to about $15,000/yr</p>
<p>If your on a tight budget, remember student jobs are available.
(4,000+ UA students are work study) Not all burger flippers, some interesting jobs are available.
Resident Assistant (RA) after freshman yr is a great choice.
Wheelchair Assistance - Football Support Staff
Lifeguard, Skybox Server, Computer Science Lab Assistant, Online Tech Support
[Student</a> Employment](<a href=“http://hr.ua.edu/employment/student-employment/]Student”>http://hr.ua.edu/employment/student-employment/)
[Student</a> Jobs Available](<a href=“https://facultyjobs.ua.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1312130146041/]Student”>https://facultyjobs.ua.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1312130146041/)</p>
<p>My daughter is an incoming freshman and her major is computer science. Her course fees added up to $274. It looks like her books will cost about $400. That’s with purchasing a couple new books because the Supe store doesn’t have used listed. I’m hoping to find them used elsewhere and save a little money.</p>
<p>My daughter is an incoming freshman in music. D’s course fees for the fall are $495. That does not include the $195 course fee for Alabama Action (which is frankly a great bargain because it includes three meals a day and housing for a week). </p>
<p>Her books so far have cost $292 – this includes all but one class – and all of those books are used in the next level of the class she is taking as well – so if she were to continue with those subjects, the cost would amortized over more than one semester. (She will definitely continue to the next level in at least one of these classes and may continue to the next level in another, but fat chance that she will take more math than is required!) </p>
<p>Textbooks for the class that hasn’t posted book requirements yet will probably run $225 based on the information in MyBama for last year’s class – but those books will be used for a four course sequence of classes, so the per semester cost isn’t too bad for that set of books. She will probably also need to buy some music this semester, but that will become part of her professional library.</p>
<p>*The college/course fees and in particular book estimate seems really low. *</p>
<p>One of my sons was a math major (he just graduated), the other is a Chem Engineering major.</p>
<p>Their book costs ran about $350-500 per semester…depending how good we were at looking for used books or online shopping. Younger son was really good about finding deals. Older son wasn’t. </p>
<p>Course fees ran about $250-375 a semester…depending on course choice and number of credits.</p>
<p>These are my Chemical Engineering son’s course fees for this fall…</p>
<p>ARTS & SCIENCE COLLEGE FEE - $60.00</p>
<p>A & S FACIL./TECH COLLEGE FEE - $54.00</p>
<p>ENGINEERING COLLEGE FEE -$90.00</p>
<p>ENGINEER FACIL./TECH COLL FEE - $108.00</p>
<p>EDUC FACIL./TECH COLLEGE FEE - $9.00</p>
<hr>
<p>total…$321…this is for 17 credits.</p>
<p>Vlines…the estimates are per semester…not per year. So, note that.</p>
<p>Textbooks for the class that hasn’t posted book requirements yet will probably run $225 based on the information in MyBama for last year’s class – but those books will be used for a four course sequence of classes</p>
<p>Yes! Some books are used for more than one semester. I think my kids’ physics book was a 2 semester class.</p>
<p>Also, as kids make friends, they can sometimes trade books for a semester. My son is trading a math book for another math book with a friend.</p>
<p>lil bro worked as an intramural ref last year. He didn’t do it through work study though. Anyway he enjoyed doing it and it provided him with a little spending money throughout the year. </p>
<p>If your tuition is paid for then it really shouldn’t be that hard to come up with the other $10 - 12K that it would cost you.</p>
<p>NJ- what did your bro ref? My S is a licensed soccer ref and it would be great if he could pick up some games. Were you talking about basketball, or soccer? How does one find out?</p>
<p>Just have him go to the rec center and inquire. Lil bro reffed both basketball and soccer last year. He just saw a flyer at the rec center and signed up. Had to take a 2 hour class one night for rules and other info and then they put him on the schedule. </p>
<p>He said they were always looking for more refs so your son shouldn’t have any problem getting in.</p>