College Dorm Fees

I have three kids going in bam bam bam, following each other. The first is there.

I'm a bit confused on one particular issue.

One bill is for the dorm. That portion is being paid via work study, which means she works for them and they keep the check and apply it to the bill at the end of the semester, then she owes the remainder or gets the difference, depending on how much she worked. However, the bill is THERE and says that for every thirty days it isn't paid, 18.5% is added to the bill.

I feel pretty dumb now and bad for her, if this is really how it works with this like the letter says. I plan on advising her to call and ask about this, but is this common practice for the bill to grow like that in the program? At the least, she'll find out and we'll be better prepared next time around. We sure are running into a lot of surprises!

Is this just normal stuff that people know and we just didn't? The cost itself is not too shabby for what they get in return (decent lodging, security, internet access, meal program) but the letter came as a shock.

 

I looked again to make sure and it's definitely not a pay as you live there expense. It's one big charge, listing the exact hall and stating that is what the charge is. (different dorms have different costs)
As long as I was there, I was looking at all the different charges and I'm going to be singing the praises of tech school to my next two! I just keep feeling like we should have known more stuff before. Like "mandatory hourly fees," which almost doubled the tuition rate.
At least next semester it won't all be so new.
Unless they have "second semester fees." At the rate this is going, that won't surprise me one bit. :laugh::laugh:

 

It's a program the college has, and does make sense. (the tacked on interest doesn't, imo, if it's what it sounds like on the bill!)
You have to apply for work study if you want it and they go over your information and your finances and if you qualify and they still have openings, they let you in and you work for the college. They look at your class schedule and schedule your hours around that, usually in one of their restaurants doing food service.

She did turn down the student loans offered, not wanting to go into debt and neither of us realizing how big this bill would be, though one was offered interest free. The loans are offered per year, and it doesn't look like there's a way to go BACK and change to accepting them. If you know anything about that...she didn't apply, they were whatever they send standard when you accept your college and accept any scholarships and loans, it's all online and that part stays there, what you accepted and didn't accept and how much you accepted for the year. I think it was called Stafford? I'd have to ask. Otherwise, she's looking at something else and I don't even know where to tell her to start. We're really just muddling through all this right now without much of a clue, if you can tell!

The meal plan is included in the work study, although on the itemized bill, it seems to have it separate. Maybe they just break it down. The bill has about 25 separate listings of fees, it looks broken down and then they apply whatever has been paid and send it out as one mass bill a couple weeks after school starts with the remainder, with the option to click to see a list of the charges and how it all added up to the total.

I'll tell her about the RA thing! I think she'll probably end up with no fee next time though, if she plays her cards right. They seem to have another program (they have a lot of programs!) where students who do good and have no trouble are offered better living spaces on campus for no tuition and the other residents vote to decide. She was already accepted into a sort of advanced placement (smaller classes, individualized counseling, etc.) based on her high school achievements, so if she keeps it up, that might help her out more next time. I hope.

 

Thanks. I didn't think about the scholarships staying the same while tuition goes up. I did tell her to keep going for more scholarships like crazy the whole time she's in college.

The tuition is very reasonable though. If that was the only thing a student paid, it would be pretty amazing.

 

Thanks Friend of Spurgeon! I've seen some students do the summer classes at the local community college and wondered about that.
It's up to her, but my mom self wants her in the dorm. They have security guards and large poles with buttons that sound sirens that you just press if you need help. LOL I really liked the RA idea you brought up.