Beyond Tuition
From lab fees to insurance to haircuts, college expenses add up
You've forked over money, a lot of money, for tuition, room, and board. Isn't that enough? Nope, sorry. Students need computers. And textbooks. And tickets home for Thanksgiving. And pocket change for the laundry machine. And cellphones to call home for more money.
The cost of attending college is much more than the fixed costs charged by a school. Often, it is even more than the "estimated cost of attendance" the school typically provides. Trouble is, colleges don't take great pains to be precise when figuring out what students' ancillary expenses will be.
So what kind of added costs should college billpayers realistically expect? And how does a student get by on a modest budget when one Spanish textbook alone costs $183? Take a deep breath, and read on.
This story appears in the April 19, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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