Calculating the Total Cost of College

Have you ever noticed how most colleges only list tuition (which is the fee a person pays for education or instruction) as the cost? When we see this, it is pretty common for most people to think that the listed tuition is going to be the sole cost associated with going to that particular school. Unfortunately, there are going to be quite a few hidden costs associated with going to college.

These hidden costs can be an extreme surprise to someone that does not expect them. In addition, such hidden costs can help push the cost of college from expensive through the roof to the point where you just might not be able to go anymore. Calculating the total cost of college is going to require not only considering tuition, but these hidden costs. Use these few guidelines to help make sure that you have considered as many of the costs associated with college as possible, so that you don't have any nasty surprises when you get there.

• Tuition. On average, the single largest expense that a person is going to face when going to school is going to be tuition. The average cost is going to run anywhere from as low as $9,000 to attend a public or state school, to as high as $40,000 per year to attend one of the Ivy League universities.
• Transportation. In this case transportation does not mean simply getting around the school or town (that would be listed under personal expenses). Rather, what this is referring to is the cost of going from school back to your home to visit each year. There is no real rhyme or reason when it comes to traveling expenses, just keep in mind that airplane and bus tickets can range from a couple hundred dollars to as high as a few thousand depending on time of year and the destination.
• Room and board. Unless you happen to be one of the lucky few who get into student housing, then you are going to need a place to live, not to mention that you have to eat. Tuition doesn't cover that, so if you are lucky you can expect to spend as little as $7,000 to as much as $10,000 on room and board.
• Supplies. You are going to need to cover the cost of all books, papers, pens, pencils, laptops, printer ink, and so on yourself. The absolute bare minimum that you could be expected to pay for this can cost as low as $1,000 and quite possibly as much as $2,500 each year.
• Inflation. On average the inflation rate for the past ten years has been around 2.5%. This means that what you calculate as your cost now is not going to be the same as it is during the year that you graduate. This is something that needs to be considered when you are calculating your total cost.
• Personal expenses. This category is going to almost depend solely on you. Let's say that you like to go to movies and if you only go to one movie a month that can run you as much as $120 per year. The thing is, who really only goes to one movie a month? When people go out to see a movie, they also tend to grab a bite to eat which can run about $15 a pop. All together that can be a total of $300 a year if you only go out to eat and see one movie a month.