College is expensive. At the end of each semester I find myself digging through purses and jackets to find a dollar or some spare change that had once been forgotten. Unsure of where your money is going? I found that the following seem to be doing the most damage to student’s bank accounts:
Tuition and Other ‘Mysterious’ Fees
According to the College Board, in order to live on campus, in-state tuition and fees are $8,655 annually while out-of-state tuition and fees are $26,026 annually. The College Board reported that in 2011-12, public four-year colleges charge, on average, $8,244 in tuition and fees for full-time in-state students and $12,526, on average, for full-time out-of-state students.
Knight Hall, for those of you who have never been in it, is the home of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. It is a beautiful building that prides itself on sustainability. I recently declared Journalism as my major. After reviewing my billing account on Testudo I noticed a charge of $150 that was titled “JOUR PROF FE”. According to the Bursars office, students that declare Journalism pay an additional $150 per semester for equipment and facility usage in Knight Hall.
Books
After tuition has finally been paid off, students are slammed with another pricey bill for books and other class materials. Almost every class requires that students purchase at least one textbook. “Between Book Holders and the University Book Store I spent $545 for all of my books,” Sam Salant, a sophomore applying to the business school, said.
Parking and Parking Tickets
Drive anywhere on or near campus and you’re likely to spend over $3. While it may not seem like a lot in the moment, it adds up. According to New York City Department of Transportation, 25 cents in a parking meter will get you 15 minutes. Here at the University of Maryland, 25 cents in a parking meter will get you 8 minutes. Robbery!
Get caught up in class and don’t make it back to your car in time? Expect a $20 parking ticket waiting for you on your windshield. The Department of Transportation at the University of Maryland isn’t wasting any time when it comes to handing out parking tickets.
Dining
According to the University of Maryland Dining Services website, for the basic residents’ dining plan, students are charged $1,942.50. This cost gets you 1060 residents’ points that can be used at the North and South Campus dining halls.
However, students are not able to use these points at their own pace. The dining service has provided focus dates. The focus dates are estimates of where your point balance should be.
In other words, focus dates work as cut offs. If you have more points than the estimated value, your points are wasted. “I would never use all my points in time for the focus dates,” Nikki Pascucci, sophomore economics major said. “My parents’ money went to complete waste and they were not happy when I explained the situation to them.”