<p>So now that we finally know D is a NMF (hooray!!) and is entitled to all the trappings that go along with that, I am trying to get a feel for what everything else is going to cost.</p>
<p>For example, how much for:
books
meals
football tickets
fees
other misc stuff</p>
<p>I am a planner by nature and would love to know what to expect.
Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>We budget around $500 per semester for books…we have rented some books and always try to get used. The meal plans vary but for Freshmen, I think they put you on the Silver plan- around $1300…you can find out more info at [url=<a href=“http://www.campusdish.com%5DCampusDish%5B/url”>http://www.campusdish.com]CampusDish[/url</a>] plus $300 dining dollars to be used at area restaurants. Football tickets for Freshmen are divided into 2 packages- 3 game or 4 game…maybe $30? Also, there are building fees and class fees that our full tuition scholarship didn’t cover…it varies. If she is planning on doing a sorority, that would be another expense.</p>
<p>The meal plan for freshman year is the most expensive. You can really reduce this cost (a LOT) after freshman year. Freshmen are req’d to have the Silver plan…at LEAST.</p>
<p>After that, you can choose…Bronze Plan, 50 meal plan, or no plan. </p>
<p>Books…about $500 per semester…this can vary. foreign language books are surprisingly expensive. I have a son taking Spanish AND Italian this semester. </p>
<p>Football Tix are sold in sets. Each frosh can only buy a “half season” set. the tixs are $5 each…so a set is either $15 or $20 plus some small “handling” fee… Students can get tix for the other games thru some kind of system…hopefully someone can better explain this.</p>
<p>course fees range by what kind of class it is. Classes with labs or technical classes have higher fees. Since our kids take classes with labs, we always assume a couple hundred each semester for fees for each kid.</p>
<p>The university lists typical expenses for a semester at [Cost</a> of Attendance](<a href=“http://cost.ua.edu/]Cost”>http://cost.ua.edu/) . Course fees can be found at [College</a> Course Fees](<a href=“http://cost.ua.edu/college_coursefees.html]College”>http://cost.ua.edu/college_coursefees.html). </p>
<p>For an NMF’s Freshman Year, I’d estimate costs to be:
Books: 1000
Course Fees: 600
Dining Plan: 2600
Dining Dollars: 600 (rarely accepted off-campus, can be refunded starting in April)
Football Tickets: either 21 or 26, depending on the plan you choose and including fees
Travel: varies depending on the student. I spend 1500-2000 since airfare has gotten more expensive as of late. For those from nearby states, 800.
Additional Expenses: again, varies depending on the student. Some weeks I’ll spend 10, some 150 depending on where I’m eating and what necessities I need to buy. The Publix grocery store just off campus is reasonably priced, accepts competitors coupons, and even though an item might be buy-one-get-one-free, you can buy one for half price.</p>
<p>For the football tickets, is it for either the first or second half, or can you choose individual games throughout the season?</p>
<p>^^^You choose one of two packets put together by UA. However, because of Bama’s great ticket donation program, you’ll probably be able to attend virtually, if not literally, every home game. Last fall my son was able to attend every home game except Auburn (he was out of town). He had the 4-game packet ($20) and attended two others for free via the ticket donation program.</p>
<p>The video link below shows how this system works.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.actcard.ua.edu/donate.wmv[/url]”>http://www.actcard.ua.edu/donate.wmv</a></p>
<p>Don’t forget Bama Cash which is different from Dining Dollars. My D uses the Bama cash for laundry and I believe it is accepted at places like TCBY and some of the places to eat on the Strip.</p>
<p>*Football Tickets: either $21 or $26, depending on the plan you choose and including fees
*</p>
<p>Just to clarify…this is “per set”…not per ticket.</p>
<p>there are typically 7 home games. Upper classmen can get tickets to all home games. Frosh can only get “half sets”. One “half set” has 3 games and the other “half set” has 4 games. The games are mixed between more popular and less popular games.</p>
<p>There are ways to cut your expenses, too. For example, look for deals from the airlines. I got a flight for my son from BHM to Baltimore-Washington International airport for just $59 at Christmas time. Southwest was having a sale.</p>
<p>As for books, look outside of the Alabama bookstores for deals. Really shop this. You would be imagine how much you save. Sometimes, you can have a roommate who has taken the class, and he/she is willing to let you borrow the books or sell them for very little. Other times, various used textbook sites give good deals. I got a book for one of my son’s math classes for $6.99 slightly used. It retailed for $195 new. With some books, you may be able to use them for more than one semester, so that can save money.</p>
<p>Also, depending on your major, your book budget can be wildly different. STEM majors tend to have more expensive books while humanities titles are usually less expensive. As momreads said, shop for the books. The ISBN numbers are provided along with the title and you can just enter them in a Google search. D has had good luck with half.com, amazon and barnes & noble.</p>
<p>Another potential cost not mentioned would be incurred if your D decided to join a sorority. </p>
<p>In my house, I was very surprised at the end of the Fall semester by how little my D had spent out of her money. As her friend’s mom said (who grew up in Tuscaloosa) there isn’t that much to spend money on in T-Town. Her D, who is in school in Los Angeles, found plenty to spend on out there. So school location can be a factor too :)</p>
<p>there isn’t that much to spend money on in T-Town</p>
<p>LOL…my older son sure finds a way. He loves Downtown, The Strip, and Midtown Village for off-campus eating. And, now that he knows about Nicks in the Sticks, he has to go there about once a month. Thank goodness he has a job to pay for all of this.</p>
<p>Aren’t course fees and meals covered by the full-ride scholarship? [scratching head here – I thought fees and board were part of the package??]</p>
<p>Thanks for all the answers, you guys are THE BEST!!!:)</p>
<p>So it looks like we should budget about $5000 a year plus travel.</p>
<p>I would love to hear from any students that work, or parents that have children that do. M2K is it your CBH 4.0 son that works? Is that ever too much? Do the research labs ever pay? What kind of jobs are available?</p>
<p>The full-ride scholarship doesn’t include food. I don’t know why.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice about book purchases. My DD dual-enrolled course included a book that was specific to the college. So we paid full price at their bookstore. Does Bama have books that are set up like that? Or can you just purchase the non-specific version book from somewhere else?</p>
<p>Course fees and meals are not included in the NMF scholarship.</p>
<p>the scholarship is</p>
<p>tuition
housing
study abroad money
$1k per year
laptop</p>
<p>For those on the NMF scholarship, you need to estimate that the first year, your costs are going to be about $4k-5k (because of req’d frosh meal plan and course fees). After frosh year…about $3k-4k…depending on what you downgrade your meal plan to.</p>
<p>* M2K is it your CBH 4.0 son that works? Is that ever too much? Do the research labs ever pay? What kind of jobs are available? *</p>
<p>Both my sons have a 4.0 and both work about 6-15 hours per week. They work as tutors at the UA Center for Teaching and Learning. this is a great job, because the students get to choose their own hours and can “cut back” when they’re having a lot of work to do. It’s also great because if a student doesn’t show up for an appt, the tutor can do homework and still get paid. </p>
<p>Older son has also worked as a TA for 3 semesters…TA’s don’t lecture, they help with labs, grading tests, proctoring exams, etc. They just help the prof with stuff. </p>
<p>Yes, some lab jobs are paid positions. And, sometimes helping a prof with research is a paid postion. My son helped a math prof with research and got paid. </p>
<p>There are other on-campus jobs that are reserved for work-study. </p>
<p>Also, there are many off-campus jobs available at Midtown Village, The Strip, and Downtown. </p>
<p>I’m a big supporter of the idea that kids should work part-time during the school year and as much as they can during the summer. They need/want the “pocket money” and they can also use the money for other things as well. some parents have their kids buy their own books or to pay for their meal plans. It’s up to each family.</p>
<p>I should add that if your child has the NMF scholarship AND the Engineering scholarship, then your costs are much lower because the engineering scholarship would cover much of your meal plan costs.</p>
<p>*The full-ride scholarship doesn’t include food. I don’t know why.
*</p>
<p>I’m sure it’s a cost thing. The OOS NMF scholarships cost about $120k per child…If they were to add in a meal plan, they probably would cut back and not include the cost of honors housing…maybe just regular housing which is about $4k cheaper.</p>
<p>And, maybe the school feels that families are used to paying for their kids’ food anyway.</p>