<p>How much of an effect have you noticed student spending habits on their college choices, including choice of school, choice of major, student loans, summer jobs and internships, and post-graduation career choices?</p>
<p>For example, a frugal student may have less need for student loans, may need to work less (leaving more time for academic and extracurricular activities), may be able to choose summer jobs and internships for the quality of experience, and may choose a major and career path leading to lower paid jobs because s/he can live on that pay level without additional support from parents after graduation.</p>
<p>But a spendy student may be more constrained in running out of money and needing more loans or work income during school, may need to choose a summer job for maximum pay over quality of experience, and may need to choose a major and career path with a higher pay level in mind to sustain his/her spending habits.</p>
<p>There also are influences based upon the culture of the college. If you go to a college where most of your fellow students are wearing designer clothes and going to expensive restaurants, it will be harder for your student to feel comfortable being frugal.</p>
<p>Also, it essential to take into account the varied cost of living in various cities. Housing and even everyday items cost much more in some cities such as NYC, Boston, San Francisco and DC. Some of the anecdotes of students racking up huge debts while an undergrad involved students going to college in Manhattan. Particularly if a college does not offer its own cheap housing for all four years, going to college in NYC can be a budget-buster for housing alone.</p>
<p>My attitude is that a student should work as many hours as possible during the summer, but as few hours as possible during the school year. Some students who pick a college with a high net price end up having to work long hours during the school year and miss out on many of the activities that help to justify paying those high costs.</p>
<p>Hmmm, you mean New York University? But then that school is known for being expensive with poor financial aid – it is probably a very unfrugal choice for many students to go there in the first place, even without any additional costs of living in Manhattan.</p>
<p>I am glad to see this topic. Back in the early 80s I went to a private university with many affluent students. I on the other hand was on full financial aid. It really was not an issue and I spent only a minimal amount each semester, and no one around me seemed to be doing any differently. It was very much a campus culture for one, and the only spending was occasionally going in on a Dominos pizza, 2 bucks for the frat keg party, or a few dollars here or there for campus movies and concerts. There were no on campus coffee shops or eateries–you ate at the dining halls, and there was no easy access to off campus venues. My son went to a 5 day program at Penn State last summer and spent more in 5 days(Starbucks, frozen yogurt, late night fast food runs ect.) than I probably spent in a school year! This summer he will be on a campus for a 6 week program and I can’t imagine what his spending will be! Is it that times have changed, campus life has changed, or a combination of both?</p>
<p>My D1 ended up at an LAC in a small-ish town where she said it was hard to spend $25/week. Her first choice (didn’t get in) was Georgetown. She commented to me later after visiting friends there that she would have needed 3-4 times more spending money to go to school there just because of the campus culture and DC opportunities that would be hard to pass up. She was happier she had ended up at her small school, as she was responsible for earning her own spending money!</p>
<p>ProudMom: to keep my kids’ spending down on restaurants, etc. I have a policy. I pay for their meal plans, and they can use my credit card to pay for anything they buy at a grocery store. If they want to go out to restaurants, they have to use the money they earned over the summer.</p>
<p>I’m with Charlie (post #3) on all of this. I give my kids an allowance based on what we have agreed up in terms of cost. $35K is what we pay, so after tuition and other fixed costs, the kid has to pony up the difference or get what’s left over if anything. If they can do better eating out or cooking vs meal plan fine. The schools we’ve dealt with don’t give kids that much leeway in terms of mealplans freshman year, but thereafter, my kids tend to want to go with the one with the least required meals. I don’t know if that has been the best choice. I also don’t think they saved much money, if any,living off campus, even in the case of two of them, with really cheap rent. I certainly haven’t seen a lot of money left. </p>
<p>But my son who is going to school in an area where there is plenty of cheap close off campus housing is very hopeful that he is going to beat the R&B charges of the school. We’ll see. But he at least has a chance at it. Some of his friends at NYU are faced with the fact that there is no beating the cost of living in Manhattan, and a number of them are commuting, unhappily. It’s not even cheap doing that. So, yes, the school of choice and the student’s spending habits can make a big difference. These days it’s rare to see kids packing lunch and a snack every single day, and doing that could defray a lot of their costs. </p>
<p>When I went to college, the cafeteria and a few miserable snack bars were IT on campus in terms of eateries. When you went off campus, there were only a few for food and none of them were particularly cheap Most all of us ate at the cafeteria because it was the most convenient and practically the only game in the area.</p>
<p>When I returned to the campus some years ago, what a change! A food court is on campus and ther is a ring of fast food, quick food eateries immediate off campus, all vying for the student dollars. I believe that students can buy dining dollars as well as a meal plan and the way all of these things work are in a complex matrix that even a mathematician would not be able to crack. Choices and more choices, but the bottom line is that it costs more, even to commit to eat at the cafeteria because it has to deal with the uncertainty of who shows up and has lost the volume of takers.</p>
<p>Perhaps a combination of both, in that what a few decades ago were considered expensive or occasional luxuries are now seen as everyday things or necessities? This might apply to both the students’ and parents’ spending habits, and the non-educational services provided by the colleges themselves (which builds in higher costs reflected in higher costs of attendance).</p>
<p>Aside from cell phone services (which I pay for), my kids’ spending habits don’t seem appreciably different from my own way back when. Vast majority of meals eaten in the cafeteria under the meal plan, with maybe 1-2 meals at a casual dining place on the weekend with friends. The occasional frozen yogurt or similar treat at the student center. The occasional movie or something similar, or a trip downtown (using public transportation). The occasional need for a tube of toothpaste or some band-aids or some such. My S goes to school at my alma mater and the opportunities for casual dining have really exploded compared to my day, but I don’t really see him eating out all that much. They’re both pretty frugal and very responsible with money and I don’t think they live high on the hog at all.</p>
<p>My DS will start college in the fall but his college choice was affected by his spending habits. He is thrifty. When we told him that we really didn’t want to spend more that the mid/low 20’s/year on his college he picked one that with his scholarship will be between 14-15/year and even if he lose’s the scholarship he will still come in around our max. He does not want to take out any student loans and would prefer to do co-ops, internships or a summer job’s to make extra money.</p>
<p>That said he has picked engineering as a major. So while he’s thrifty he would like to make money once he is out of college.</p>
<p>Op ~ so I think you’re asking about temperament and risk taking, maybe. And how it applies to spending habits. DS is not too embarrassed if he goes to pay for something and is turned down 'cause he doesn’t have enough money on his debit card. My daughter would be horrified. She’s had an emergency fund of $1,000 sitting in her account for 4 yrs. She’s very precise, will graduate as a pharmacist. My son, who can talk his way in/out of anything, I’m guessing will go into sales, and make money as he needs it.</p>
<p>Perhaps the mindset that makes someone well-suited for engineering (which often involves solving design problems under restrictive cost constraints) may be a mindset that can lead to personal frugality?</p>
<p>Of course, this does not mean that all frugal people will find engineering a suitable career, nor does it mean that all engineers are frugal. Being careful with one’s money can be very helpful no matter what career path one takes.</p>
<p>I think frugality is learned (it can also be forced onto you by sudden economic change). It’s always easier to spend more than you need than to live within/under your means. Don’t the spending habits of the students depend on their household spending habits?</p>
<p>DS was in a tiny town will little to spend money on, though they did out more than we ever did. He was told that all his spending money had to come from him, and he did work in the library for four years. I don’t think it cut into his work time at all, and he enjoyed it. He was responsible for DVD’s and videotapes. He really enjoyed it. So if he went out for food more than I did, it was his dime.</p>
<p>DD was on the Upper West Side in Manhattan where good food could be had for very little. There were so many free plays available and all the museums were free to students at her school that she didn’t spend much either. She also had a job for her spending money and worked in the Provost’s office for four years which turned out well because they gave her jobs and housing for over the summer, and she chose to pay for her own books with that money.</p>
<p>Since we eat out so much more than my parents did (or actually bring in take-out a lot) I am not surprised that kids do too.</p>
<p>I could never make those elaborate meals my mom did because everyone eats something different. My H is a strict vegetarian and my D is anemic and eats meat, etc, etc, etc. It was just impossible feeding the family. And groceries are so expensive, too, that they grew up seeing only about half our meals prepared here.</p>
<p>“I think frugality is learned (it can also be forced onto you by sudden economic change). It’s always easier to spend more than you need than to live within/under your means. Don’t the spending habits of the students depend on their household spending habits?”</p>
<p>ABSOLUTELY not! I am frugal to a fault, constantly complain about the cost of just about everything, and find it almost physically painful to spend–I would go to the hospital for IV fluids before I would actually purchase a bottle of water, but my kids think that $6 Starbucks runs, designer clothes and pricey electronics and sports equipment are their birthright. They didn’t get it from MY household spending habits.</p>
<p>My youngest son, who is a rising HS senior, has been looking at colleges based on merit money. He got this idea from his older brother who was a National Merit kid who got full tuition, housing and other goodies with his undergrad education. All the schools that my younger son likes are good schools. He is very frugal and does not want big debt. The fact that his mom teaches and just got her first raise in five years may have something to do with his thinking.</p>
<p>Both of my S’s attended big state u’s where they could graduate debt free.
Neither would have considered taking on big debt for college.</p>
<p>S1 had a fullride but still worked 25 hours/week to support his spending habits.</p>
<p>S2 didn’t have a job in college but lived frugally on the allowance we sent him. He ate only two meals/day and lived in a house with no heat or air conditioning. That allowed him to still have a beer money at the end of the week! He never asked for extra money.</p>
<p>I actually wish my younger son would spend more on fun than he does, but I’m happy that he has a bunch of frugal friends. He’s worked the last two summers, but he’s not making huge quantities of money so being careful with money is a good thing. Older son is a similar story, except he earned a lot during the summer - enough to start an IRA. He’s not a big spender, but he got an apartment that was convenient not cheap, and doesn’t think twice about buying books or games.</p>
<p>Early on in daughters’ LAC career she found she could not keep up with her peers when spending off campus.After a 60$ lunch she told her friends that was out of her league.They accepted that and have found many reasonable alternatives.Then again my daughter is no shrinking violet.</p>