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Education Budgeting: Average College Cost is Nearly 9 Cents Per Minute!

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Ah, college. That time of your life where you're technically grown up but decide to act like a child for an additional four years. A time where the beer flows from giant fountains and casual sex with complete strangers is a daily event, at least for someone on campus.

Okay, enough kidding around. College is serious stuff; it's the place where we really become ourselves and figure out what we all want to do with are lives, at least professionally. We're taken down a road of knowledge that somehow leads us to fulfilling (and hopefully lucrative) job opportunities when we graduate. It is very easy to severely UNDERBUDGET for your college experience.

We're talking going to college here. It's a time where you wander from your precious homeland to venture into the world of the unknown. Leaving behind the safe shackles that your parents have held around your neck and reigning free in your own element, you're bound to stumble over a few rocks from time to time.

Now, let's not forget, college isn't cheap. With rising costs nationwide, more students are taking an extra hard look at their finances and determining ahead of time how much money they will actually be spending. It's an investment, and one that should be made wisely.

There are many factors to consider when determining the cost of college. Most students focus on the raw semantics when creating their budgets. There's tuition and books and fees and that's it right?

Wrong! Going to college is a complete and total life change. Students are no longer living under a free roof, and no longer have the supervision. Adding in the responsibility costs and the very expensive social costs are part of the equation as well. We'll add them all up to see what the total cost of our education is, then break them down so we can get a better picture of how much it costs us to go to college per day, hour, and yes, how much it costs for each and every minute we're there.
Here's a quick breakdown of time spent in college (assuming you'll actually graduate on time!)

4 years =
208 Weeks =
1460 Days =
35,040 Hours =
2,102, 400 Minutes!

Tuition, Supplies, and School fees

1. We'll use tuition numbers based on your standard 4 year bachelor's degree. The first major factor will be the college you choose to attend. We'll compare the top US public colleges alongside the top US private colleges to determine how much tuition will cost. It looks like we'll have to pony up around $22,500 a year, for a grand total of $90,000, to attend school. It's already starting to get expensive, and we just started!

You could of course stay at home and continue your education online. The average cost of highly rated online colleges are far cheaper than physically attending a university, usually at half the tuition. However, the learning environment, or lack of environment, is less desirable for most students.

Also don't forget that tuition grows at a far greater rate compared to the rate of inflation. This, in addition to laws affecting how we pay for college, will have an impact on how much it costs to attend a school in the future. If you're planning for your babies' future, understand that the price is going to go way up.

2. Next up are what can be considered "start-up" costs. These include all the things you'll need to start each semester, usually books and computer supplies; be ready to spend $1,500 a year to keep up. Don't forget all the other "do-dads" you'll need if you decide to go away to school, things like plastic crates to organize your junk, lava lamps, electronics, and other stuff to decorate your first place($2,500). Staying at home will keep your start-up costs to just the essentials, unless of course you're tired of the baby blue paint you've had in your room since you were in the second grade.

3. Also, for those of you who plan on joining a fraternity/sorority, your annual fees average out to about $300. Those of you going online can join an online community of people for free. If you really need someone to make you perform ridiculous tasks and make you attend silly formal social functions, you might as well just go back to high school.

Living Expenses

4. Where you live is the second biggest factor in determining your cost. Some of you will be held hostage on campus but will save a buck, living in outdated dorm rooms your first year or two. Others will just scrape by living off campus in a really crappy house with other people you'll probably grow to hate.

And the real losers who still live at home with mom and dad will once again cut all these costs out by mowing the lawn and taking out the trash on occasion. Of course they will be subject to the ridicules of everyone else who has their own place and have a tough time hiding their lovers in the basement until the "˜rents get off to work in the morning. The things you do to save a buck.

Rent will probably be a $3,500 affair per year, and that's living with at least one other person. Next you'll be expected to pay around $100 per month for utilities and cable. Your cell phone bill, which was already expensive to begin with, will probably accrue additional charges as you'll be spending more time on the phone letting mommy and daddy know you're okay, about $60 a month. Word of advice: get the free incoming plan (they usually call you more than you call them!)

5. Remember, you're a young kid growing up in 21st century America, which means you are super materialistic and need to have the coolest clothes in order to be accepted by your peers. If you're female, you are out of luck and will spend ten times as much money on clothes that, for some odd reason, every other girl on campus will own. Pony up $1,000 a year to stay cool.

Food, Drink, and Entertainment

6. Your eating habits will vary when you're broke; expect a nice diet full of Ramen noodles and Quaker instant oatmeal. When you have the loot, expect to blow it on extravagant sushi dinners. Factor in a good $100 a week if you want to stay alive.

7. This is where college really starts to take its toll on a student's wallet. You know damn well that the only real lessons learned in college involve either a half keg of Natural Ice or a three foot bong named Rex. The cost obviously has a dramatic increase depending on your ability to not let any of these substances completely control your life.

As far as going out is considered, sometimes you'll be drinking expensive martinis, other times you'll be drinking cheap keg beer. You're looking at $2.50 on average for every drink you consume and even if you're not buying, someone else is. You go at it on average 3 nights a week and consume 7 drinks per session. That's 4,368 drinks over your 4 years totaling $10,920.

8. Coffee is a very important factor in determining cost; you'll be drinking more coffee in this time period than any human should be legally allowed to. Where you choose to purchase this coffee, which will be consumed to keep you up till 6 in the morning writing a paper that you had plenty of time to write, can get expensive. Especially in the winter months when you just HAVE to have that fancy pumpkin spiced mocha latte with a shot of espresso. Expect to drop an average of $3.00 per day on your favorite cup of java.

9. Cigarettes – the average price is about $3.81 per pack. Now, not everyone smokes and even those who do so only smoke casually. Let's factor a pack a week for the duration of school. 208 packs for $792.48.

Legal and Medical

Because of your inability to not get absolutely out of this world drunk every time you do go out, you're bound to harm someone or yourself at some point. In addition, you will be faced with situations involving the opposite sex that will result in a trip to the doctor's office; these will always result in deep regret.

10. Broken Bones – the cost of the broken arm you'll get after falling out of that window (with your pants around your ankles): $3,000.00

11. Doctor's visit- you're going to see him at least once to check for any STD's: $60

Whether it is the crowd getting a little too loud singing the chorus to a bad Journey song or getting pulled over by the 5-0 on the way home from it, you're going to collect some fines and/or jail time. Hopefully you're the one in the passenger seat who gets away with only an open-container ticket instead of that pesky DUI.

12. Parking Ticket - we all know that you can never park anywhere in a college town without paying for it. And we also know that you could care less about stepping outside in the freezing cold to fill that meter up. $15.00.

13. Whether it be in a automobile or just walking home from the party, you'll constantly be taking your open beverages of choice home with you (or to some other strangers house). You'll have to pay the $150.00 for an Open Container Violation at some point.

14. Noise Violation – Steve Perry will be jealous once the cops start banging on the door. The recent increase proposal in one college town to a whopping $325 will have you keeping your parties a little more quiet in the future.

Travel Expenses

15. Now you're going to need a mode of transportation to get around campus, and somebody's got to pay for it. The rich lazy kids will probably bring their mom's BMW from home and drive that around; others who are less fortunate will be seen hoofing it around town. The smart ones will buy a nice bike and get the benefits of exercise in addition to better mobility (who wants to wait in traffic?)

Either way, a car will be necessary to get back home for the holidays, unless of course you have to fly back home because you're so far away; we all know this option is not going to be cheap by any means. Expect to spend around $5,000 a year, including insurance, gas and oil, repairs and tires, and let us not forget depreciation. This is hoping you don't have a car payment and have kept a good driving history.

16. Studying abroad? Obviously it depends on where you're going (that trip to Spain will cost more than your stay with a militia in that Venezuela expedition). Either way, you got to figure the flights, room and board, and expenses for the trip are going to cost a little more than sticking around town. Plus, you won't have the opportunity to work while you're there, so you'll need additional income to both pay for the trip and pay for the bills waiting for you back home; $1,000 a month for the three months you're there should be enough.

17. Spring Break will always be right around the corner; judging by the amount of Girls Gone Wild videos that continue to get made, I don't see you doing anything differently. Plan shelling out a nice $1,200 for that trip to Cancun; don't worry; your acid-induced trip to the Mexican shaman's hut is included.

Pets

18. Yes, even though you're up to your ears with friends and/or that special someone, there may come a point where for some reason, you decide to get a pet. Usually it's a way for you to show some kind of responsibility of taking care of another living creature, a kind of wake up call of what's to come if you decide to have a child sometime in your post-college life. You're already on a budget as it is; between the vet fees, food, and other things you need to keep your pet happy, expect to add another $50 per month on average to your expense report.

Graduation

19. God knows that you'll be planning your graduation party far in advance, and it will be a big deal. I mean, your parents can't wait to brag about how their beloved child made it through and got that diploma; they'll be sure to invite lots of friends and family, not to mention all your friends as well. Expect them to drop a cool grand on food, music, and of course plenty of booze.

20. Now after all the festivities are over, you'll need to go get a job. No more playing around. Make sure you don't fail to impress - pick up a nice $600 suit to look the part when you go for those initial job interviews.

21. Reputation Management - After you graduate, you will loose several good job opportunities because of your MySpace page showing up in Google search results when someone searches your name. The problem here is all the half-naked pictures of you with various obscenities written on your belly with a red magic marker. You'll need the help of an online reputation management person to get some better information of you online. Make sure you opt for a real consultant, and you have the funds to cover the $5,000 it will cost to build up those search results.

So, as you can see, there are a lot of things to consider when determining the cost of a college education. Sure you're thinking about how you'll never have to pay for half of this stuff; you know you're not going to get arrested and probably not planning on studying abroad. At least you're thinking that now, before anything happens. Or, you've already accomplished the 4 year feat on a much cheaper road. In which case, kudos my friend, great job; you'll have less debt to pay when all is said and done.

Now if these expenses do sound realistic, as most of them most certainly are, then let's get to the bottom of this and find out how much were spending, by the numbers:

Total Cost: $198,222.00
Per Year: $49,556.00
Per Month: $4,130.00
Per Week: $953.00
Per Day: $136.00
Per Hour: $5.67.00
Average College Cost Per Minute: $0.09

Nine Cents a minute! That's still an amount that you can count in your hand. And while pennies are generally regarded as being worthless by many, they do add up over an extended period of time.

Next time someone discusses going to college, or is already having a rough time handling the daily cost of being in school, remind them of the importance of maintaining a healthy budget of their expenses. Too many things are often overlooked, and the more time you're out there being careless with yourself, the more likely you'll end up making both a bad personal decision as well as a bad financial decision.

As mentioned earlier, many of these costs drop significantly when students choose to continue their education online. Unfortunately, while these options may save the student thousands of dollars or pennies per minute, the student may be robbed of an often very important social experience that can only be attained through a traditional college lifestyle.

It's always good to remember that time also has a monetary value to it as well, and how we spend that time and who we spend it with that matters most. We may always see that career at the end of the tunnel as the main example to judge whether our education was worth it, but it's the experience in itself that many consider to be priceless.