<p>Once tuition, room and board, and travel expenses are paid, how much spending money do you think a kid would need for a one semester internship/study program in Washington DC?</p>
<p>One debit card that the parents keep feeding $ as needed.
For safety, keep a balance of a few hundies to $500.</p>
<p>Enough to get a Metro card…and some personal expense money. Maybe $200 a month since everything else is covered.</p>
<p>What does “board” cover?
If the student is doing an internship, it might be necessary to provide spending money to cover lunches, even if they are theoretically covered by a meal plan. </p>
<p>On top of that, I think there would be a great deal of variability depending on how the student prefers to spend free time–going out to clubs/bars? Expensive. Going to the theater? Even discounted, that can add up. Watching Netflix? Not so costly.</p>
<p>^^ thumper – do you know how much a metro card is?</p>
<p>^ DeskPotato – Board covers all of his meals while on campus. However I think that several days a week will be spent working the internship off campus. I’m estimating that will mean 3-6 meals a week eaten out. Not quite sure. </p>
<p>But for budgeting purposes – I was hoping $100 per week would cover the metro fees and all meals eaten out.</p>
<p>The Metro in DC charges by the distance of your trip, rather than by the trip itself. For example, a trip from the American University campus to Dupont Circle downtown is about $1.85, if I remember correctly. But, it would be over $2 to take the same Metro train to Union Station. Budgeting for transportation will depend on how often your child needs to travel, and where. </p>
<p>In general, the cost of living is fairly high in DC. Lots of fun places to eat, but Chipotle burritos, Starbucks and frozen yogurts can add up quickly. On the other hand, most of the museums are free, and there are student discounts at other cultural venues. Hoping my D who will be in DC in the fall will learn to budget well.</p>
<p>Food in DC is expensive, I would suggest bringing his lunch each day if possible :D. $100/week might be pushing it for food and metro depending on how much he uses the metro. An unlimited weekly pass (which he may not need) runs about $47. Each individual ride is between $1.65-1.90. [Metro</a> - Fares - Purchase - Passes & Farecards](<a href=“http://www.wmata.com/fares/purchase/passes.cfm]Metro”>http://www.wmata.com/fares/purchase/passes.cfm) . Plan on at least $10/meal and you have $100.</p>
<p>I agree with the debit card and then after a couple weeks, see what the usage is and, giving him a budget to stay within (good practice for when he has to pay his own bills :D).</p>
<p>SmarTrip®</p>
<p>Get a Smartrip card for her and load it up…if she is using the Metro for commuting.</p>
<p>Here’s the link to metro for costs. If you know where they are staying & where internship is you can estimate costs.<br>
[Metro</a> - Home page](<a href=“http://www.wmata.com/]Metro”>http://www.wmata.com/)</p>
<p>As others have said, it’s expensive. Lots of free stuff to do–Smithsonians, etc. Lots of expensive stuff to do. There’s always some sort of festival going on around the area–usually accessible by metro. </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>