When trying to decide whether to live on or off campus, there is unfortunately no clear-cut answer. It depends entirely on the college or university you are attending and where the school is located. Figuring out on-campus expenses is fairly easy. That information is available through your school.
Figuring out the cost of off-campus living takes a little research. First, you want to figure out the cost of living for the area your college is located. Salary.com provides a free cost-of-living calculator, which will help you determine the overall costs. In general, living in the south and Midwest is cheaper than living in California or the Northeast.
To research the cost of apartments in your area, you can visit a Web site such as rent.com. It also provides a $100 bonus if you rent an apartment you found on its Web site. You’ll also need to look into how much money you’ll need just to get an apartment. According to Fastweb.com, most apartments require a deposit, but some also require first and last month’s rent. This amount could easily come in at a couple thousand dollars. You’ll also have to budget in the cost of utilities: water, gas, electric, phone, cable and Internet.
When trying to determine the costs of off-campus living, you also want to take into consideration the sales tax. For example, Portland, Oregon , home of Lewis and Clark College, doesn’t have a sales tax so the sticker price is what you pay. Cleveland, OH, however, has an 8% sales tax, which will affect you if you are planning to go to Cleveland State University.
You also need to look at transportation costs. If you are living on-campus, it is likely you’ll be able to walk or take on-campus buses to all your classes. Living off-campus, you’ll have to consider the cost of gas and parking fees. You’ll also need to take into consideration the extra time required to get to classes.
There are pros and cons to both on and off-campus living. Although living off-campus you’ll have more individual bills to pay, you also have more control over your bills and you can cut costs in a variety of ways. You can control the size of your apartment, and you can choose the people you’ll live with. Deciding where to live is an important financial decision, which should be researched and carefully considered.
, Liesel from Bhutan.
