Pre-College Costs

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Although rising tuition is commonly the concern of past and present college and University students, the multi-layered cost associated with applying to these schools mirrors the astronomical tuition fees, which adds to the already overbearing burden of college student debt.

The Beginning

One of the first expenses of higher education is accumulated during a student's junior and senior years in high school. This cost comes from taking standardized tests. SATs and ACTs, the standardized tests that are used as part of the admissions decision for almost every college in America, extort hundreds of dollars from students across the nation. The cost and various fees associated with these standardized tests are displayed to the right.

Image courtesy of Prep Scholar (1).

Image courtesy of neaToday (2).

Standby Testing

If a student misses the late deadline to register for one of the scheduled tests and there are no seats available for that student to take the test, they will be placed on the wait list and charged an additional fee to the registration and late fee. The wait list, also called "standby testing," as mentioned in the chart above, is the time between the late registration deadline and eight days before the test. The total cost for registering for the ACT wait list, including both the registration and late fees, is $145 for a single test, without the essay portion fee. Although many students avoid this extra payment, this situation is still a very expensive reality for some.

Test Prep

There is no limit to the amount of times that a student can take these tests, and many take them multiple times to improve their scores. According to Mt. Lebanon High School guidance counselor Mrs. Tara Leja, the majority of students take the ACT and SAT one to three times each. In order to vastly improve low scores, however, students often resort to taking prep classes.

High Prices, High Scores

Top scores often come with a steep price. Students who aspire to attend the most selective schools in America need upwards of a perfect score on their standardized tests in order to be considered for the nation's best colleges and universities. Three of the top-rated online SAT and ACT prep courses are displayed in the table to the right.

Information courtesy of Prep Expert (3).

Information courtesy of Mt. Lebanon Academy.

Go Local

Although top rated online courses are said to have a large return on investment for those who aim for the Ivy Leagues, Local Prep Courses are oftentimes more affordable for the average student. For instance, Eaton Prep (4), a Pittsburgh-sourced prep class that provides services for the surrounding areas, offers a group class for $425. This class includes 12 sessions for a total of 36 hours, or less than $12 an hour. Mt. Lebanon Academy (5), another tutoring program sourced in Pittsburgh, offers slightly more expensive but still reasonable pricing for their private, semi-private, and group SAT classes.

College Applications

After spending upwards of hundreds to thousands of dollars prepping for and taking standardized tests, students and their families pay these testing organizations to send test scores to the schools that they are applying to.

$core Reports

In addition to the cost of taking the SAT and ACT, students are required to pay for score reports, which are described in the table to the right. Although students have the option to send a limited number of free score reports, this decision is made when registering for the test and only pertains to students who are applying or have already applied to a college or university.

Many schools also request that students send all of their test scores with their applications. If the average student who took both the SAT and ACT twice (see the mention of the average under the Test Prep section above) applies to a school, they must pay the SAT reporting fee ($12 per school) and the ACT reporting fee ($13 per school) for each score sent. This totals to an absurd $50 to send scores to just one school. According to a 2017 report by Niche.com (6), the average student applies to four schools, amounting to a whopping $200 total merely to send test scores.

The above table depicts the varying costs of sending test scores to schools that students apply to. Information courtesy of Prep Scholar (1).

Information courtesy of U.S. News and World Report.

Application Fees

Submitting a college application comes with a price tag. Almost every school in the country requires students to pay a fee to send in their application to the admissions office. Some schools give students fee waivers or do not require any fee at all, but this is not often the case. The most selective schools in the country, however, charge astronomical fees to apply. The nation's top most expensive application fees are displayed to the right.

Students can spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on application fees even before admittance. A 2016 U.S. News and World Report (7) found that the average college application fee was $43, but the most common price was $50. Students are recommended by College Board (8), a college admissions organization, to apply to five to eight schools (9), which quickly multiplies the application costs.

Empty Your Wallet

Accepting the Offer

Even before a student is accepted to a school, the cost of standardized tests, test prep, and applications start to build. Once a student is finally accepted and enrolled into the college of their choice, they must then secure their spot with a deposit, which includes both a housing and tuition fee. According to Marketplace.org (10), housing deposits commonly range from $100-$350, and tuition deposits can range from $50-$500.

In addition to this testing, to improve scores, the typical student may take a prep course. If that student were to take a moderately priced, local group-sized class, the cost would be around $595 based on the cost analysis in the "Test Prep" section above.

Once the student is a senior, they will apply to the schools of their choice. Since the average student applies to five to eight schools, we will assume that that student is applying to six schools. If the average college application fee is $43, then the typical student will spend around $258 in application fees.

Based on these numbers, a typical high school student will run a tab of around $1,187 even before they are accepted into college. After the student enrolls, this price jumps to an astounding $1,612 even before the student steps onto campus for their first day of classes. This moderate cost analysis displayed to the right, although not as high of a price as some spend on this process, clearly displays the extreme financial burden that just the beginning of the college process places onto students and their families.

The Future

Getting into college is only the start to an already building pile of fees and costs that will multiply by the time a student earns their diploma. To many students, the future does not shine as bright as the chunk of change that they will hand over in exchange for their degree in the near future.

For more information on the cost of your degree, head to our Cost of College page!

Image courtesy of Student Loan Hero (11).

Pre-College Costs In Perspective

After enrolling into the college of their choice, let's calculate the dent in a student's—or their parent's—wallet using the average cost of each category from the information above.

If the typical student were to take the SAT and ACT, the cost of their testing would total to around $184 if they were to take each test twice, excluding any writing portion fee or other fees. This information, in addition to score report fee cost analysis, is displayed in the chart to the left.

Image courtesy of the Denver Post (12).

References

Cheng, Allen. “SAT Cost, ACT Cost, and How to Save Money.” Should You Go to College? 4 Pros and 3 Cons, Prep Scholar, 5 June 2017, blog.prepscholar.com/sat-cost-act-cost-and-how-to-save-money.
Walker, Tim. “If Rewards Improve Test Scores, What's Really Being Tested?” NEA Today, 12 July 2016, neatoday.org/2016/07/12/standardized-tests-rewards/.
Patel, Shaan. “How Much Do SAT & ACT Prep Courses Cost? Part 2 | Prep Expert.” Prep Expert, 22 Oct. 2015, prepexpert.com/how-much-do-sat-act-prep-courses-cost-2/.
“Eaton Prep SAT Course.” Eaton Prep: SAT Prep Classes in Pittsburgh, www.eatonprep.com/courseinfo.php.
“Mount Lebanon Academy 2018-2019 Academic Year.” Mount Lebanon Academy, www.mtleboacademy.com/fees.htm.
Caffee, Alex. “2017 College Admissions Report.” Niche, Niche, 5 June 2017, articles.niche.com/the-class-of-2017-goes-to-college/.
Kowarski, Ilana. “50 Colleges With the Highest Application Fees.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 10 Oct. 2017, www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2017-10-10/50-colleges-with-the-highest-application-fees.
“About Us.” The College Board, www.collegeboard.org/about?navId=gf-abt.
“Applying to College: FAQs.” BigFuture - Get Ready for College - College Planning, Financial Aid, Educator Resources, College Board, bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-in/applying-101/applying-to-college-faq.
Scott, Amy. “Forget Tuition, Just Applying to College Can Cost Thousands.” Marketplace, Marketplace, 1 Apr. 2013, www.marketplace.org/2013/04/01/education/forget-tuition-just-applying-college-can-cost-thousands.
Trull, Jeffrey. “The Ultimate Guide to Paying Off Student Loans Faster.” Student Loan Hero, Student Loan Hero, studentloanhero.com/ultimate-guide-paying-off-student-loans-faster/.
Peart, Cohen. “Cartoons of the Day: Student Loan Debt.” Drawn to the News, The Denver Post, 15 May 2014, blogs.denverpost.com/opinion-cartoons/2014/05/15/cartoons-day-student-loan-debt/42971/.

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