Friday, January 21, 2011

Beyond Tuition, Room & Board and Textbooks

A September post on Smartmoney.com outlines 8 college fees that most students and parents have not considered or expected. When applying for college checkout the colleges' websites and review not only the tuition and room/board charges,  but make sure you check out all college fees. I recommend that you  print out a copy of all fees from each college's website for your file on each college. You should determine which fees are required for all students and which are not. This will help you more realistically compare the cost of the colleges you are considering, when you review the college award letters.

Typically fees such as healthcare, parking, technology, and student activity fees are required of all students. Only students involved in the following activities or groups are billed for such things as sports, study abroad, freshman orientation and graduation fees. Some fees you can not avoid  by not participating in the events. Be advised  that all freshmen will be charged a freshman orientation fee, regardless of whether the student participates. The same is true for graduating students, who are charged the graduation fee, even if they do not attend their graduation..  Check out the full list at http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/college-planning/8-college-fees-you-probably-didnt-plan-for/?cid=yahoo

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