Unexpected add'l BS costs besides tuition, room & board

<p>The price tag for financing a BS experience already does not come cheap. But we were surprised by all the additional little (and not-so-little) extra costs that creep in. </p>

<p>Examples:
- We had budgeted the cost of airline tickets for DS's school breaks, but didn't budget the significant cost of land transport between school and the airport.
- Travel costs (airline/rental car/hotel/meals) for parents for visit the BS during Parent Weekends
- Fees to participate in certain sports/activities</p>

<p>What other surprise expenditures have you encountered in your child's BS experience?</p>

<p>I don’t know if it counts as a surprise, but books are expensive (around $500). Also my child’s school requires that child’s health insurance covers a local primary care physician. If a family’s current plan can’t do this, insurance must be bought through the school (around $1700, if I remember correctly.</p>

<p>Film photography supplies are an expense for us as well.</p>

<p>How about school trips, laundry service, food delivery, and the school computer.</p>

<p>We never paid for any laundry service or food delivery. We did have to pay lab fees that could run $300+ per course per term. You also have to pay if you have >18 credits in a term (S avoided this). Hobbies the kiddo takes up can also cost (tho S ended up getting funding for those from the U). Didn’t expect to have to pay overlapping rents. One summer, we had to rent 5 different places–3 for S & 2 for D! S was ending one lease at his U while the next one started & was at an internship out of town that needed yet another lease. D had one lease end and another begin–paying double rents for some months. <sigh> Fortunately, we got S to pay his own rent when he was interning, since he was being paid.</sigh></p>

<p>We hadn’t budgetted in all the care packages we’d send the kiddos either. Mostly, costs weren’t that far off from what we had expected, mostly LOTS!</p>

<p>-There are optional int’l trips in the summer, to bolster foreign language skills: several thousand dollars</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Optional laundry service (up to $1k)-- even the kids who have this end up doing some of their own laundry anyway, because the kids (especially athletes) may need a certain item washed right away. Also, many services limit the number of articles per week they will wash. I know of a number of families who bought this the 1st year, but were not repeat customers the next years.</p></li>
<li><p>DS’s BS has late evening snack after study hall everyday, but kids will still want food delivery or eat-out on weekends, despite meals being supplied (and already paid for) in the dining hall. Additionally, the BS has on-campus cafes where students can charge items to their account.</p></li>
<li><p>DS’s BS has an annual technology fee which covers the cost of a new laptop and continued I.T. support. The kids keep the laptop when they leave the school.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Snacks/food/small things kids can charge in the school store can add up quickly. Also, even btw our health insurance and paying for the school insurance, there were a couple of years where the med expenses were quite high for us, ie prescription med (illness and injury) costs, PT we were told would be covered… My understanding is this varies among schools.</p>

<p>The annual fund. The first time this solicitation shows up most people are suprised because they are already paying a lot on tuition. However, schools really rely on this money for operationg budgets etc and often believe it is better to get it optionally than raise tuition even more (especially since the gift is tax deductable but tuition is not). So, even if you just give a small amount the school really is expecting people who pay tuition to give.</p>

<p>

It’s also expecting people who do not pay tuition to give. Even if it’s a dollar. Can’t imagine getting a $50-60,000 education (plus books, air, etc) for free and not giving something. The goal is for 100% parent participation - even if the amount is modest. It’s about showing school pride. </p>

<p>Other fees: Cost of spring break trips (hundreds to thousands depending), gown or tux rentals for out-of-state musical events (I was charged for rental and drycleaning - $50 here, $40 there, spare change everywhere), dorm activity fees (see last item), transportation to the mall or for shopping, take-out for late night study sessions, school dances and proms (if girls add new shoes and dresses since they can’t possibly wear what everyone has already seen before), student activity fundraisers, dorm room supplies (sheets, blankets, pillows/mattress pads (I highly recommended), shelving, etc), change for the laundry machines, cash to eat in the student grill, notepads, calculators, replacements for lost and stolen items, and… drumroll, expenses equivalent to the Spirit Airlines “unintended consequences fee” which is all the stuff you can’t think of but the school or the students will the day after your bank balance drops to zero. :)</p>

<p>Exie, lol! Anecdotal evidence is that girls are twice as expensive as boys.</p>

<p>We also spent a small fortune to outfit the dorm room (bedding, linens, shelving, hooks, lamps, fan, etc, etc, etc) from scratch, since DS is int’l and it was too much bulky stuff to bring on a plane. We’re praying that he decides to go to an east coast college, so we don’t have to do the Bed-Bath-and-Beyond ordeal again.</p>

<p>Wow, I didn’t know that the schools gave FA for airfare, too.</p>

<p>Re: The Annual Fund: Unlike all other expenses mentioned, the Annual Fund contribution is the only one that is tax deductible. You will receive a statement from the school detailing your donations in January or February of the subsequent year.
During tax season, every little bit counts. </p>

<p>Another cost recently incurred: If your student invites another to the prom as his/her date, they bear the responsibilty of both ticket purchases. This is where I drew the line and told DS to cut back on late night food delivery orders and scrape together the cost of his date’s ticket!</p>

<p>Sports equipment when your child decides to play a sport they have never played before.</p>

<p>Yes, an expansion on Exie’s “lost items” - boys tend to lose things if they are not taped to their forehead. Don’t know what happens to son’s socks, hats, etc.</p>

<p>Yes, it’s unbelievable how many pairs of shoes DS has lost, in spite of them supposedly being tied onto his feet</p>

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<p>Yes - and then they don’t make the final cut in tryouts. </p>

<p>My advice - Just add $25 for every day there is a full moon or the sun rises and you should be covered for unexpected extras. (just kidding)</p>

<p>So far, we have not had any costs that were unexpected…SAS tries to make the tuition (and room & board, as it is 100% boarding) as “all in” as possible, even factoring in a debit balance for books and some spending money. </p>

<p>Supplemental music lessons are extra, but that is the case at most schools, IIRC. They do not offer a laundry service. SevenDaughter cooks most of the nights her classmates order in (Saturday night seems to be the most popular night for that)…so her cash burn rate is pretty low. The cooking thing is quite a pleasant surprise for her mother and I!</p>

<p>Since she already had a serviceable computer, I’d say our biggest cost outside of tuition has been clothing. My daughter went to a day school with uniforms, so we had to dramatically augment her wardrobe last summer.</p>

<p>Oh, and I nearly forgot the costs of us traveling/staying overnight for things like Parents Weekend. While the internet has made it easier to find deals, there isn’t a density of hotels in the middle of Delaware…so they can charge what the market will bear. Factoring in gas and a few meals, and these outings can cost a few hundred dollars.</p>

<p>If a child gets into any trouble at school, families might be expected to cover out-of-pocket expenses for outside counseling, or even periodic, random drug & alcohol testing. Some schools will charge if your child is struggling, and needs some extra tutoring in a subject. Books can be shockingly expensive, but students can sell them back to school bookstore if they are in decent condition, or buy used from friends at substantial discount. I picked up one required book for my son when moving him out of his dorm last year - another student just called out an offer to sell it for $5. In another case, I found a book that my younger son was going to need tossed on the floor of the day-student locker room after the school year had ended (it belonged to a friend of my elder son’s, and he obtained her approval). Many schools now have service requirements: they can be fulfilled with local projects,at no cost, but most students want to take the more expensive group trips. The most exotic trips - to destinations like Africa or Asia - can cost thousands of dollars. Belongings do get lost or stolen. My older son has misplaced several winter jackets over the years. Most schools probably offer the same options to parents regarding school store charges - I okay’d unlimited privileges, and my kids have been pretty good about limiting their purchases to books, supplies, and an occasional snack or frivolity. Finally, I recommend purchasing one of the discounted warranty packages from sites like Square Trade or Securranty for any new laptops or smart-phones - they’re much more affordable than the manufacturers’ warranties, and they cover loss, theft, and damage which are practically inevitable in dormitory situations.</p>

<p>Square Trade, Securranty - thanks, stagemum, have not heard of these, but will definitely look into them!</p>

<p>7dad, dying of curiosity here - how does your D cook in BS? Is a hot plate or such allowed in the dorm room?</p>

<p>News to me that boarding schools don’t provide books as part of tuition - is this pretty much the case at all boarding schools? I know how very expensive books can be.</p>

<p>Also - what happens for ‘allowances’? Are kids given a set allowance by the school to make everybody equal (which is, of course, then charged to the parents), or are all the kids on their own to obtain whatever spending money they can from parents? How have you handled the allowance issue for your boarding school child?</p>

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<p>Good gracious no! But many (most?) dorms have a common kitchen for the kids to use, with at least some modest cooking facilities.</p>

<p>And allowance, at least at all the schools I’m familiar with, is up to the parents. So some kids will have a heck of a lot more spending money available than others.</p>

<p>At most schools, you are on your own for books, although some schools may have some kind of store set up for buying/selling used books. Students on financial aid may get books provided free or at a discount, and at least one school has a free “rental” system for kids on FA, with the leftover books available at no charge to the rest of the community on a first come-first serve basis. But, there’s no question about it - books are expensive. One of the best things you can do is make sure you get your student’s required reading list as far ahead of time as possible so that you can buy used copies on your own before the kid gets to school.</p>

<p>Laundry - which has been discussed at length in other threads - is not cheap. And if the school has a dress code, it’s an expense you probably can’t avoid. Kudos to the kids who can budget their time so that they can do at least some of their stuff in coin-op machines on their own . . . but at some schools, finding that extra time can be challenging.</p>

<p>@stagemum: I believe our kids attend the same school and you’re absolutely correct. During those last days in May, deep discount book exchanges/sales between students rivals a moroccan flea market. This is especially true for those books previously held by seniors. The last thing on these kids’ mind is negotiating the FMV of an IB Calc textbook. They are only interested jumping into their post-secondary school lives with both feet.</p>

<p>@2kids: As noted above, her dorm has a kitchen with a stove, sink, and microwave. My daughter’s “cooking” is more like your typical college-style guerilla food prep. Occasionally she’ll make things from scratch, but usually it’s heat & eat or add water and stir type meals…usually stuff we’ve sent her or bought on breaks. She does go grocery shopping occasionally, via bike or organized town trips.</p>

<p>Re: Allowance. Back in Sept, I left her with about $100 that lasted pretty much through Thanksgiving break. Her debit account draws have all been stuff like $10 here, $7 there. I think between $25-$50 a month would work for most kids…allow them to take part in various fee-based activities and pay for a few non-meal plan meals once in a while. So that’s another $250-$500/year of out of pocket expense to keep in mind.</p>