Kiplinger just released their best value list and UT is quite high on the list with a COA of $20,876/yr. This seems low to me. Their published amount is tuition and fees are $4813-$5530/semester and both on campus and off campus living expenses are $5035/sem which seems very low compared to what parents have told me. One person told me it was costing $30,000/yr but her child was at a very nice off campus dorm. Some other kids are paying $1000/month per bedroom, year round. I was just wondering what the actual cost is these days.
@GTAustin , we were told that UT would be like $25K-$26K per year, Tuition + Housing, from our friends as well. My LHS has a major in the College of Liberal Arts (COLA), and his first year Tuition +Housing is like $19,800. I believe COLA is one of the less expensive colleges at UT. Also,he’s on campus in a dorm, with a dorm mate and a community bath down the hall. That’s the least expensive dorm option. (PS he loves it!) So there is a range depending on which college your major is in and what dorm/housing you choose. UT, in it’s webpage/brochures, adds other costs such as travel and incidentals. We have certainly found out that the $1500 for the meal plan plus the $300 of BEVO bucks, which is included in the Housing cost, won’t be enough for our LHS. I expect we’ll need another $300-$600 for food, but still, UT is a bargain compared to most OOS state universities and certainly private colleges. So my guess is that UT’s COA range is something like $19,800-$23,000 not including other incidentals i.e. more food, travel, activities etc… So that “average” of $20,876/yr is probably good for on-campus/dormed students.
Around $25,000/yr was what I was thinking especially if you live off campus and anywhere close to the campus. I was just very surprised to see that number on the Kiplinger list, but it is probably close for the first year if you are in the dorm.
My son is a CS soph, in-state, usually taking 13-14 hours a semester, and our total tuition/fees/books/room/board cost has been right around $20-22k/year (fall & spring but no summer). First year, he lived & ate on campus. This year, he’s sharing a 2BR/2BA apartment with 3 other guys, gets a modest allowance for food and other costs, and our layout is not much higher than last year. Apartment is nice, couple blocks off campus, but not in the pricey west campus area. You can hold costs down pretty easily if you have a roommate and are reasonably frugal (and not in a frat or sorority, which can be a huge expense).
I think the secret for keeping costs down is the sharing of the room. That does keep the costs reasonable.