12/8/16

By: Joci Keough

Everyone tells you not to base where you go for college on the cost of the institution.  Based on College Board, the College Board reports that a “moderate” college budget for an in-state public college for the 2016–2017 academic year averaged $24,610. A moderate budget at a private college averaged $49,320. But what goes into this cost? The tuition at public colleges can be only considered for state residents, but not for out-of-staters students. These people are the ones who often pay double the tuition of residents, which causes you to consider your options. For some reason, students that want to pursue the majors of sciences, engineering, pre-med programs, and the fine arts often pay more. According to collegedata,  “At University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, students enrolled in the College of Engineering paid up to $5,000 more in tuition in 2016–2017 than students pursuing other majors.” The students that would like to pursue their dream career, might end up paying more just to get the education they want. The tuition of a school can be based on the location or how popular/ known the school is. Someone’s dream school could be Clemson University for engineering, but might end up attending a state school because they can’t afford to pay that much money to attend their dream college.

Tuition isn’t the only thing that student’s are paying for. The students end up paying for the library, transportation, student government, and athletic facilities, sometimes food, etc. According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2016–2017 school year was $33,480 at private colleges, $9,650 for state residents at public colleges, and $24,930 for out-of-state residents attending public universities. Once you start adding up all the costing, you can realize that it’s a lot more than you planned on paying. The cost that gets people a lot is the Housing and meals. The College Board reports, “the average cost of room and board in 2016–2017 ranged from $10,440 at four-year public schools to $11,890 at private schools. Colleges also provide room and board estimates for living off campus based on typical student costs.”

Lastly, there is the cost of books and supplies for the classes. According to College Board, “the average cost for books and supplies for the 2016–2017 school year was $1,250 at public colleges and $1,230 at private colleges.” These are essential in order to pass the class so these are necessary things to get.

Lots of parents want their children to go to a college that is close to home so they can easily commute back and front. This would save on the housing and cut down the cost of the meals. This way is a lot cheaper, but the students aren’t getting the full college experiences doing this. Everyone tells you not to based where you go for college on the cost of the institution.  In the long run, it’s based on how much financial aid you get, but sometimes that’s not enough to pay off as much you want.