$37,840 in tuition. $12,760 in room and board. $1,212 in books. The price of college is expensive, obviously. But those are just the costs of college that everyone knows about.
$6,000 in visits. $750 in applications. $800 in SAT tutors. Hidden fees lurk beneath the surface of the supposed cost of college, and that’s something about which most people are unaware, until the time comes to write the check.
Application costs are often an overlooked financial burden, especially for those applying to many schools – an increasingly common part of the application process as universities become more and more competitive – and a college acceptance becomes less of an equation and more of a shot in the dark. During my days of high school, it was not uncommon to hear of your peers applying to upwards of a dozen schools, totaling roughly $1,200.00 in application fees alone.
Through college search sites such as CollegeBoard and Cappex, colleges have access to self-reported academic information; some schools may send emails to certain students offering to waive the application fee, depending on the student’s information and interest in the college. Three of my personal application fees were waived by schools who found my information on these sites, saving me a total of $210.
Once accepted, many students choose to visit these schools prior to making a decision as to which school to attend. Between transportation, staying overnight, and the school tour itself, the visitation fees alone can top over $1,500 per visit. Hundreds of dollars in hotel rooms, flight tickets or road trip gas, the tours of the schools themselves, and of course the typical “college gear” that comes with every campus visit.
Many students choose to pursue extracurriculars in their college careers, which would naturally require yet another hidden fee. The cost to professionally photograph pieces for an art portfolio can be up to $800. Many potential college athletes choose to have their athletic careers professionally filmed, which includes multiple hidden fees. To have a highlight tape produced can cost up to $30 per game, and to submit the tape so that it is viewable by schools costs another $80. It seems as though, instead of the students being rewarded with attempting to be more involved in their potential colleges, they are burdened with cost after cost of even being considered for a position.
The price of college is overwhelming to consider, without the thousands of dollars spent on extra expenditures. It is a well-known fact that college is expensive, but perhaps the most frightening aspect of the college process are the hidden costs and fees that sneak up on so many during the college process. $40 here, $80 there, the fees add up, leaving the potential student empty-pocketed prior to merely being admitted. Is it worth it? Is the “college experience” really as “priceless” as people claim? It’ll take about four years and an endless supply of phone calls home, asking for refills of money, to find out.
