I’ve heard that the cost of attendance can be lowered by excluding unnecessary things out of the college plan (transportation, food, etc.). I am not sure if this is a true claim but I would like to try this out. I mean some things I feel like I won’t be needing during college and it’s just more money to use, so if I could take these out and lower the cost of attendance. What do you think about this claim?
Many colleges require freshman to live on campus and to take the full meal plan. Once you get past that point, some students are able to live more cheaply. Off campus housing is usually cheaper (BUT, you often need to sign a 12 month lease, and it can be against the rules of the lease or very difficult to sublet during the summer if you want to go home, so it isn’t necessarily cheaper). You can generally feed yourself more cheaply than the meal plan – but that means you need to get to a grocery store regularly and take the time to cook, which is a hassle.
Regarding transportation, usually that is not a big amount in the COA except for international students. Don’t forget that dorms usually close for the whole winter break, so you probably have to go home during that time if you are living on campus.
My kids have sometimes gotten along spending less on textbooks. They rent them, buy used, or check out from the library if they will only need the book for a short time. One of my kids goes to a small school where for some of the core classes she was able to buy textbooks really cheaply from older students. But now she is further in her major – and this year one of her textbooks for a Physics class was newly issues and cost over $200. So you can’t count on that every semester.
Going to a school where the COA is clearly out of reach is kind of a bummer – when your friends want to order pizza, or go on a road trip for the weekend, or go out to brunch or dinner, you are the one who has to skip it because you don’t have the cash. You probably will end up working a lot of hours while on campus just to make ends meet, which can cause your academics to suffer. You will want to work in the summer, I am sure (most college kids do that). But I know a kid who worked two jobs one summer because the COA was too high for him – he had a 40 hour job on campus doing research in his major, but took a night & weekend job near campus as well – it wasn’t much fun for him.
So… I personally would go to a college that is more affordable, vs one where you are really, really pinching pennies to make a dent in the COA.
Books: Try to rent used books if you can…that is the cheapest (if they are available).