Unexpected costs of being a College Student

Posted by Qais Barat Ali on October 15th, 2019

Starting college can be quite a challenging and expensive task. While most students would turn to their prospective college’s breakdown of the estimated cost, let us warn you, there is more to college costs than just room costs, meal plans and tuition fees.

Once you pay the main fees like the tuition and boarding expenses you have plenty more costs to consider. These extra costs cover anything from parking permits to your “Greek life” in college, parental visits to even getting credit for any internship you might plan on starting during your time in college. Let us not forget how expensive books and other study supplies can get! We would suggest you come prepared with a dazzling college student resume in case you need to look for a part time job to pay your way through college.

Here are some of the unexpected costs you might have to consider before you actually join college

Parking expenses

Most good colleges are located in cities where it is parking is already too expensive. Studies have shown that on average a student in the US might have to pay something from around ,100 to ,500 per year just on parking!

Paying for your Internship credit!

If you plan on starting an internship during your time in college then be prepared! Firstly it is difficult to land a good internship especially if you go to college in the city so you better have an impressive college student resume. Furthermore, you might have to pay for your experience outside of college to count as college credit.

Visits from Parents can get costly

For most parents, visiting their children can turn out to be quite an expensive ordeal. This is especially true for colleges located in small towns, where accommodations don’t come easy. In such cases the local hotels and vacation rentals will often spike up their prices around parents weekend, orientation week as well graduation week. Parents who want to accompany their child in orientation or during moving out might find that it is quite expensive to stay close to the campus.

Paying for your Greek life

Joining a sorority or Greek life can have quite a few expenses that you might not have accounted for before. Dues and accommodation costs recur every semester. Additionally there will be other expenses such as simple purchases like group shirts, gifts purchased together as a group, group restaurant outings, attires for different events, these costs might seems little but these costs are what eventually add up throughout the year.

Student Loan Interest builds up fast!

Perhaps one of the most daunting and expensive cost of going to college; Student loan interest! Most students don’t even notice this cost until way after they graduate. According to a study, the average student loan borrower owed ,310 in debt with an average of at least 5% interest rate.

Well there you have it! The major unexpected costs of joining college; hopefully you will come prepared!