<p>Just noted the latest round of increase in college costs. Seems like anywhere from three to six percent. But here's something curious; Hawaii is probably one of the most expensive places in the world to live, yet room and board at the Unniversity of Hawai is $7185. At Providence College it is $9765. At Amherst College it is $9080. At St. Lawrence Unniversity, in rural upstate New York, it is $8630. Now some of you shrewd parents will point out that as the Unniversity of Hawaii is a state institution the state of Hawaii subsidises those room and board costs. Probably true. Yet the Unniversity of Connecticut charges $8266 for room and board, the Unniversity of Vermont, $7936. How can it be LESS expensive, to feed, water and house a young adult in Hawaii than in the continental United States? Are these room and board cost artificially high? What am I missing here? Anyone want to take a stab at this one?</p>
<p>since it is fairly expensive to fly to Hawaii from anywhre, reducing costs at the U of H increases the chance, that some one from out of state might attend</p>
<p>The colleges you mentioned for comparison also have a substantial heating bill. I'm not sure what the cooling costs are by comparison, but many similar climates have a far lower utility need.</p>
<p>I don't know about U of H dorms, but many homes in HI do not have AC.</p>
<p>Do you ever go out to eat? Are the prices the same everywhere?</p>
<p>Supply and demand.</p>
<p>"What am I missing here?"</p>
<p>Maybe they feed 'em only pineapples. ;)</p>
<p>Some colleges subsidize other costs with room and board fees, while others do the reverse, making it impossible to look at tuition, fees, room, and board costs in isolation. From the college's perspective, they are usually interchangeable sources of revenue, with decisions to raise one versus another a matter of desired optics. In addition, some colleges have built newer dorms and have to service substantial debt while others have virtually no debt.</p>
<p>State schools generally have cheaper room and board than private schools.</p>
<p>Elite colleges spend usually twice the price of tuition, room and board on education so you are getting a bargain at $40,000+. I know you don't want to hear that but endowment income makes it true. See Swarthmore or Williams financial statements on their web site.</p>
<p>here in UCLA room and board starts at 10854</p>
<p>room and board at ucla actually starts at $8899. suite and board starts at $10854. you could also spend $14324.</p>
<p>which number a school chooses to list is its perogative.</p>
<p>I think that students are generally more likely to get a single room in a private school than in a public school. This might greatly affect cost at some schools.</p>
<p>A lot of college pricing, including room & board, is based on what peer institutions are doing. College pricing is only partly cost-based, i.e., a year of tuition may not reflect the cost of providing a year of education to that student - subsidies, donations, etc. may cover a share of the cost, and annual price increases seem to have more to do with what the school thinks it can charge without impacting applications vs. a reflection of changes in actual costs.</p>
<p>One example: I haven't checked to see if it's still the case, but a few years ago Columbia housing cost was comparable to other Ivies, including schools like Cornell & Dartmouth - despite the vastly higher cost of real estate on the Upper West Side vs. Ithaca or rural New Hampshire. I'm sure Columbia's intention was to take housing cost out of the equation if a student was comparing the cost of attending various Ivies.</p>
<p>Yes edad I do go out to eat and no the prices are not the same. Were you trying to make a point?</p>
<p>The prices don't depend on the costs.</p>
<p>"seem to have more to do with what the school thinks it can charge without impacting applications vs. a reflection of changes in actual costs."</p>
<p>Actually, as list price goes up, among a small number (100 or so) of colleges and universities, so do the number of applications. Makes no sense from a "supply and demand" point of view; makes perfect sense from a Veblenesque "theory of the leisure class" perspective.</p>
<p>At many schools, dorms are funded by bonds, which are paid off by using student rent. Higher or low interest rates will impact the cost of building the dorm and may effect how much students are charged. Also effecting the cost of room and board will be the the availability and cost of local labor, whether it is unionized or not and whether there are other competing jobs for unskilled labor. Some states or localities have higher minimum wages than other states/localities and are higher than the Federal government's. </p>
<p>The cost of food will also be a factor. Some colleges do not have access to local produce or they use a contractor that imports food from outside the local area. The issue of whether a contractor is used for providing food will also impact costs. </p>
<p>Of course, as someone pointed out above, room and board could be seen as a profit center especially at colleges where there is little alternative housing to compete with the dorms. Maybe we shouldn't keep on insisting that colleges act like businesses.</p>
<p>When sending us a notice that room and board costs would go up, D's college (in NE) laid the biggest share of the blame on higher heating costs.</p>
<p>"The prices don't depend on costs" You've made my point edad. If there is no relationship between what the colleges pay for goods and services and what they in turn charge us, how do we know we're not being taken to the cleaners? Congress looked into rising college cost a few years ago, costs rising at twice or three times the rate of inflation by the way, and found just what you suggest. An elaborate shell game where costs in one area are shifted to another and as such there is no straight line relationship between what is provided and what is actually paid by the consumer. Congress just got so baffled, since apparently colleges don't share discernible accounting systems they basically gave up. Again why would room and board being more expensive in Maine then in Hawaii, if both are state run universities? Heating costs may play into it.</p>
<p>Supply and demand was a great response. That's the long and short of it. They know most kids will go to college, they know parents want to do right by thier kids, they know that some parents and/or kids will take on enormous debt to attend a prestigious institution.. so.. they gotcha. Endowments at many schools are burgeoning, but the money is being held onto for bragging rights, rather than being spent to lower the cost of attendance. Maybe I'm wrong.</p>