Lots of students don’t make it to the dining hall 3 times/day, though. Both my kids just grab coffee and/or granola bars, etc. instead of going to the dining hall. Many colleges have some kind of flex dollars in addition to the meal plan that kids get, and they use that for stuff like a bagel or coffee. Occasionally I will read out here than an athlete is struggling to stay fed on their meal plan, but I think at a lot of colleges, average students are fine with 14 trips to the dining hall per week.
I don’t know if you would call it a hidden cost, but meal plans are a LOT more expensive than cooking for yourself. So having frosh live on campus and requiring a meal plan drives up the cost. But I do see the social benefits of doing this. But a hidden cost for students is when they get older and rent off campus – leases are almost always 12 months, and they usually have to eat the cost of the summer months when they may not even be on campus.
I was surprised at some of the fees at Cornell. It’s a very large campus, and they do provide free bussing for freshman students, but after that you have to buy a bus pass for $200 for the year or else pay $1.50-$2.50 per trip. They require freshmen to take two semesters of PE classes, but most of these classes have additional fees (e.g. pilates and spinning classes both cost $90). And if you are not registered for a PE class for a semester, you have to pay for a gym membership in order to use the gym ($90/semester or $145/full year). Other elite private schools don’t charge for these types of things. Tuition alone at Cornell for most students for '16-'17 is $50,593 (except land grant colleges for NYS residents). Shouldn’t some of these things be included, especially if they are graduation requirements?
Oh you haven’t had to buy books for engineering! One course can be $400. But I have one starting in Art classes too, so we’ll see how much they are. She already owned a couple of the $200 art history books so didn’t need to pay for those.
For this thread (surprise fees), I do think the cost of books is often a shocker. It’s not hidden, it’s right there in the estimated costs of college, but none of us think that we will really pay that amount, or that one book or code for the online material/tests will really cost $200, and in our fog of denial that WE will be expected to pay them. Those costs are for other people, like engineers (not my daughter the engineer, OTHER engineering students)! I will say that my kids have found much cheaper sources of books after first year (beg, borrow, don’t worry about it method of buying books). It’s those darn classes with codes that are the problem.
Another shocker is the price of some optional things that the student might want to do like join a sorority or buy a football season ticket. Many schools now charge $200 for student football tickets.
One thing that surprised me (although it shouldn’t have, it was right there in the material) was that at DD’s school, there is no set fee for ‘full time’ tuition. I pay for every credit, so if she takes 17.5 credits as she did her first semester, I pay more than if she takes 14. Tuition bill arrived and it was $2000 more than I thought it would be because of the extra credits. The quoted tuition is for 15 credits, so that was a little bit of a shock and makes the student really think about taking a ‘for fun’ class if it isn’t going to be needed for graduation. Her sister is opposite as her school does have one price for 12-18 credits, and one of her scholarships pays per credit, so I actually pay less for 18 credits than 12.
I view art supplies for an art major…like music supplies for a music major. They are part of the cost of the major.
My son was a music major. The college expected him to show up,woth his own professional level instruments…and yes, there were several. In addition, the college expected him to purchase all music performed in recitals.
Of course, none of these were bills sent by the college…but we still had to pay them.
Some colleges charge for locker storage and rental of music practice room space. Our kids never had to pay those costs.
I think those costs are not what this reporter is talking about.
Poor kid, I gave him a hard time. I wondered why my son’s account was dwindling on the weekends and wondered if he was going out to each too much. Well, there are no full meals on the weekend, no staff. I have two elder children who attended colleges on opposite coasts and their dining services were open for late lunch and late dinners on the weekends.
Caltech puts out a spread of light foods on the weekend mornings and then it is taken away or disappears. My kids haven’t gotten up before noon, in I don’t know how many years, so my son had no choice and had to go off campus to find food. In the rain, without a car, its a bear. Yes, it does rain in SoCal.
Oh, @thumper1 reminded me of another one. If you have a student in music, you should expect some fees for lessons, but remember to budget for the accompanist, too.
Where my kids went to college…if you were a music major, you didn’t have to pay for lessons. But yes…you didn have to pay an accompanist. But again…this was not charged by the college.
At my daughter’s college, she got her instrument lessons at no additional charge, and was not a music major. Non-majors could take 1/2 hour lessons a week at no cost. Anything more lengthy, they paid for. But if you played in the orchestra, you got 45 minute lessons at no charge. The school really supported having its musicians continue lesson.
We were surprised that the R & B charges for freshmen orientation at U of Penn were not included in the financial aid cost-of-attendance so it was an additional out-of pocket cost. This was required attendance- not the optional summer pre-frosh programs. This occurred in 2008 - don’t know if it’s still the case.
UPenn also decreased our financial aid when older college sibling (other school) elected to take a Stafford loan. But they did restore the aid when sibling dropped the loan (and borrowed from us instead).
My daughter won’t be starting college until the fall. But I want to add another vote for health insurance cost. It’s not included in the NPC as @intparent said. If not for CC I wouldn’t have known to ask about it.
That’s right! The costs for student (and parent/s) travel to and from on-campus orientation/registration during the summer for fall semester. Can be a huge expense.
^^^Yes, that’s a good one. And, of course this is optional, but if parents visit on parents’ weekend, there’s a registration fee if you want to participate in any of the activities.
Don’t forget about graduation. Nearby hotels jack up prices to extortionist levels. Ordinary two- or three-star chain hotels charge upward of $400/night.
Really…after paying for my kids to attend college for four years, I was very surprised to have to pay every nickel and dime cost for graduation. As an example…we knew a BU grad who was very willing to give DS her cap and gown. But NOOOOO. The rental of the cap and gown was part of the “package” that included the tassel, and just signing up to graduate. There was no option to buy just the tassel.had to get it all (including some graduation announcements we never wanted or used).
I see so many articles about the high cost of college. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a article about colleges that try to make the cost reasonable or at least try to contain the cost. My daughter’s school does try to offer some options to help lower the costs. I guess that type of article wouldn’t get as many clicks.
One area where the cost was high was the cost of buying the computer through the school. This was driven by the very expensive insurance and maintenance plan that was built into the cost. However, we were not require to buy from the school.
Both of my kids attend schools where the cost of student activities is included in the student fees, and a student ID gets you into everything. That was a GOOD surprise to have. I think it also makes the students more involved. I know my daughter wouldn’t go to a football game if she had to pay, but she likes going for half the game or leaving early if it is raining or snowing. Other daughter will drop in on a swim meet or soccer game because it is free.
Well…how bout students who go to schools with and because of great sports programs only to find out that student tickets to these games are very limited and are done on a lottery basis? Or a place like UConn where the football games are played in Hartford…and you either take the bus or need a car…oh no you have to but tickets?
Sports tickets sales re a money maker…and that is sad for students.
Re: health insurance … If your kid is covered by your insurance, you can waive the school’s, right? If not, you can opt to get a plan other than the school’s, as long as you do it in time to provide proof so you can get the waiver. The NPC generally only includes costs everyone has to pay (they probably don’t include parking costs and the like, either). But I suppose this is what the writer is getting at … what are the costs you didn’t realize you would have to pay.
Here is one people don’t think about: Federal loans have loan fees. Undergrad loan fees are just a bit over 1%, so students don’t always notice. Parent loan fees are more than 4%, though, which comes as a surprise to many.
UCSB does include a “health care allowance” in its cost of attendance estimate. Perhaps this may be because a large percentage of students are unable to use their parents’ medical insurance – 42% of California residents with private medical insurance use Kaiser, but there is no nearby Kaiser facility to UCSB.
If you have a DIII athlete, be prepared to experience pressure to make a “voluntary contribution” to the program. Also be prepared to have your athlete be required to participate in various fundraising activities throughout the year (without pay).
I’m sure this does not occur at all schools, but I’ve heard tales from enough people to know that it is not rare…
Healthcare can be included in COA, but this is different than the NPC. I know it seems like they should be the same, but they are not. The COA is for financial aid - it can include things like healthcare or loan fees, in order to allow the family to be able to get aid to cover those things.
And if your kiddo receives scholarships,that pay for room and board, be prepared to pay taxes on that money. This isn’t billed by the college…but this cost comes as a big surprise to many when tax time comes!