Where Does Your College Tuition Actually Go?
Written by: Abbie M.
As juniors and seniors in college we know that college is right around the corner. As we also might know, the scariest thing associated with college is tuition. When we write the check for 20,000 or 30,000 dollars do you actually know where all that money is going? Probably not. Today I’m going to do a breakdown of where exactly your money goes each year.
Tuition:
The first thing that your college money goes towards is the actual college tuition. This is the money that colleges make you pay for the material they will be teaching you over the course of the year. Tuition is usually calculated by the credit-hours that make up a students academic schedule. Keep in mind that a typical academic year would range from fall to spring. This dollar amount ranges from student to student because of the amount of classes they may or may not be taking. Tuition at private or ivy league colleges can range between $35,000-$45,000 for all students compared to the public universities that are much cheaper and usually range from $8,000-$10,000 for in-state students or $20,000-$25,000 for out of state students. Out of state tuition typically tends to be higher because students would not have to pay taxes to the state that the university is in. Lower tuition for in-state students is the state's way of “rewarding” residents for their contributions they have already made in tax dollars to support their state schools.
Fees:
Fees are another part of your overall cost for college. Where tuition can fluctuate based on the school you pick, fees are a pre-set dollar amount that are the same for in and out of state colleges. The fees are the things that would not be included in your tuition. Some of these things included are,
- Id cards
- Internet Fees
- Supplies for labs
- Diplomas
- Orientation costs
- Administrative costs
- Computer maintenance
- Etc.
To know exactly what you are paying in fees there's a few things that you can do before you leave for school. You can contact one of three places for more information, the admissions office, the financial aid office or the registrar’s office.
Books:
Throughout grade school and highschool students know that part of the cost of going to school comes from school supplies. As you get to the college level the amount of supplies may go down but the cost only gets higher. Which leads us to the next thing your college tuition goes towards and that's books. Besides text books which can range from $400-$600 a year, students might also need other materials for class such as classic novels for english class along with pencils, pens, notebooks and binders. Another way this number might go up is depending on the school they might charge you for the cost of a computer. According to edmit.me, “The college board reports that between course materials and textbooks, students can expect to spend at least $1,240-$1,440 in the 2018-2019 academic year.” A way to get this cost down can be buying books used and reselling them at the end of the year or using an online textbook option.
Housing and Meals:
The second biggest expense of college comes when you're looking at meal and housing plans. Every university sets up their housing differently; they can do apartment or dorm style. This means that the cost of room and board will depend on the type of room a student chooses. According to edmit.me “In 2018-2019, the average cost of in and out of state room and board for public schools is $11,140, while the average cost for a private school is $12,680” Room and board expenses also include the cost of a meal plan. The meal plan is a prepaid account for all the students for on campus meals. You pay for the meals at the start of the year and when you swipe your meal card the cost of the meal is taken out of your account. Even if you choose to live at home, a meal plan will still be available to you.
Personal expenses:
This category varies from student to student. These are all the things that a student will need for everyday college life. This can be transportation cards, clothing, personal items, and dorm room necessities. Colleges try to estimate the amount that all of these things will cost. They usually categorize this as, “other” or “miscellaneous.” Although this seems like it wouldn’t be a heatfy expense, The College Board reports that “Expenses in this category for 2013-2014 ran from 2,580 at private colleges to $3,228 at public universities.”
Although this all seems like an overwhelming amount of money these are all estimated prices before the help of financial aid or scholarships. There are also different ways that families and students can budget and plan for these expenses before they leave for school.
Works Cited
DeAmelio-Rafferty, Lynne. “How Much Does the Average College Student Spend on Textbooks?” Edmit.png, www.edmit.me/blog/how-much-does-the-average-college-student-spend-on-textbooks.
Grove, Allen. “What to Expect from College Meal Plans.” ThoughtCo, www.thoughtco.com/college-meal-plans-788484.
Kane, Emma. “How Much Does Room and Board Cost for College?” Edmit.png, www.edmit.me/blog/how-much-does-room-and-board-cost-for-college.
“Public Colleges and Universities - Articles.” CollegeXpress, www.collegexpress.com/interests/public-colleges-and-universities/articles/.
VanDuzer, Todd. “How Expensive Is College? - Student-Tutor Education Blog.” Student, 21 Oct. 2015, student-tutor.com/blog/how-expensive-is-college/.
Abbie, as a Senior in High School who is enrolled in university in the fall, this was very interesting to read and extremely applicable! I had no idea that in-state tuition is cheaper because it's a way to "reward" students for already paying taxes in that state. Very insightful! You had nice images that really enhanced your text. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteBecause im going to collage soon reading about this was interesting and informative on how some of the expenses are calculated.
ReplyDeletei like the pictures you used to help me get a better understanding about where College Tuition Actually Goes. i also the the part you said about all the different fees that apply.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting I feel like this is a question people ask but never look into. I thought the concept of in state tuition being cheaper was very interesting. This was a very relevant topic and was very enjoyable to read.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that out of state students paid more because the taxes they paid didn’t benefit the school. I mostly thought that tuition was what made up the majority of costs in college, but the things like books and housing cost a lot more than I expected them to. I don’t really understand why textbooks cost from $400-$600 a year. Although I know that some expenses are truly expensive because the college needs to pay for them, the costs of textbooks just seems like it’s the college trying to make some extra money.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job Abbie. I really thought this post was helpful for most of us since we are either going to college soon or in a year going to college. It was interesting to think of in-state tuition as a reward. This was very informative. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI found this really interesting Especially the part where you explained why out of state tuition is typically higher. I never knew it was because out of state students wouldn't have to pay the taxes that in state students would have too in that state.
ReplyDeleteReally awesome piece. I love this topic especially now since it's relevancy in our lives now. Knowledge like this to me should be public knowledge when you're sending out thousands and thousands of dollars. Personally to me the whole college expenses thing is a money making scam made up of extreme overestimation's.
ReplyDeleteI love how applicable this article is to my life. College is obviously pretty expensive and I chose to go the private school route. Much like you said at the end of your post, at first this could seem like it is much more expensive than the public school options but these schools often offer a large amount of scholarships to deserving students which makes the large price tags of up to $50,000 a year MUCH more affordable. All of the added fees is interesting as well, for my family and I we decided after some research that the extra fees for school could cost over $4,000, this of course includes a meal plan and housing for a hole school year but that's still super expensive and I like that you pointed out that it shouldn't be overlooked.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about meal plans still being available if you live at home. Also, the pre-set dollar amount for the fees I hadn't really known about until now. Knowing that that is not included in the tuition is something everyone needs to know about as well.
ReplyDeleteAs a senior in high school who has already committed to a school this information is not new, however I didn’t know any of it a couple of months ago. I feel like as juniors its really important to begin to look into the prices of college and how much it's actually going to cost so that you can plan accordingly. Knowing this information early on would be a great help and most likely reduce the stress of the college process.
ReplyDeleteThe out of state tax thing in relation to college tuition was something I didn't know about. I knew that going to a different state made college more expensive but I didn't know it was because of taxes.
ReplyDeleteI did not know instate tuition was cheaper because of the taxes being taken into account. Dependent on each state, you have to live a certian amount of years in that state to be eligible for in state tuition. I also never took into account the amount of fees that are incorporated.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to a relatively expensive out of state college, so it's nice to know where this money is going to and i don't feel like it's being wasted or going nowhere. Private colleges and very large expensive public ones tend to be more generous with scholarships to those in need or very much deserving of them--which is important to keep in mind when applying. It doesn't hurt to try. Like you mentioned the housing and books cost a lot more, that is very true and honestly kind of surprising but not at the same time. I like how you chose a very relevant topic to your audience as this was very useful to read about.
ReplyDeleteYeah I never thought the reason for instate tuition was because of taxes. i thought it was just and incentive to stay instate for collage. I wounder how much of the tuition cost could be reduced to try and reduce student debt.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see where your money actually goes.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that meal plans are still available when working at home. Given the standardized UW system in Wisconsin, it'd be interesting to see a Madison meal plan card work at a closer UW school to Pewaukee, like Waukesha. Doing so would allow people to get schooling virtually but still utilize their meal plan. Additionally, some schools operate on meal blocks instead of meal dollars, where a lunch is considered a 'block' in the package, and there are a fixed number of blocks granted every year. Comparing the costs of meal blocks vs meal dollars across colleges would also be something unique to explore.
ReplyDeleteThis post is very relevant for basically everyone in high school. I knew the basics of what tuition was used for, but learning the specifics of it was useful and interesting. I also knew that in-state students had a smaller tuition fee but I didn't know the reasoning behind it, which was useful to learn from your post.
ReplyDeleteThis article was so helpful to me because I am going into college soon, so I need to know the breakdown of what all the stuff costs at college and where my money is going. See the breakdown of what the tuition does for and how other necessities might cost when moving into college will definitely be helpful to many seniors going into college. Many people will benefit from reading this so they plan out and budget their money to know how much everything will cost and where it is going. This was very well laid out and was easy to read. Maybe giving some example of popular schools and where the money goes for them would be helpful?
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that you went over multiple areas of expenses that could not only contribute a lot to the sum of our funds, but also how college can estimate the expenses you have to pay. I think this information is relevant to the audience, as I personally am enrolled in college and have to think about scholarships, expenses, etc. It was interesting to hear about dorms and dorm necessities, as I will only get to dorm during my junior and senior year of college. It might be interesting to expand on the different ways to pay your college expenses and what the easiest way to go about it would be.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the breakdown of college expenses. I will be attending UWM next year, and finances are definitely the main thing I worry about. I’m trying to save some money by living with my dad for the first year and buying used books. I feel like college has ramped up the price of everything, making it so most people do not understand where their money is going, just that they need to spend that money to have the future career they want. Thanks for the clarity for those who were unsure where the money was all going.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is about to enter college myself, I'd like to talk about my experiences. Personally, I've realized there are so many other things you have to pay for that aren't included in tuition when going into college. Some of these things I've discovered include dorm room furniture/decorations (microwaves, chairs, minifridges, etc.) and school supplies (binders, writing supplies, etc.). Therefore, you will have to pay to get supplies that aren't included in your tuition as well. I'm guessing this varies from school to school but this is just what I've noticed with Carroll so far.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you broke down the expenses and went into details about multiple areas. It was nice to see a visual of all the different things we are paying for with our tuition that makes college so expensive. I also think your post was very relevant, considering we are all juniors/seniors in high school about to enter college. This was very helpful in understand the full breakdown of tuition. Nice job Abbie!
ReplyDeleteGreat Job Abbie. I really thought this post was helpful for most of us since we are either going to college soon or in a year going to college. It was interesting to think of in-state tuition as a reward. This was very informative. Great Job!!
ReplyDeleteYeah I never thought the reason for instate tuition was because of taxes. i thought it was just and incentive to stay instate for collage. I wounder how much of the tuition cost could be reduced to try and reduce student debt. posture trainer
ReplyDelete