Mount Si High School parent Valerie Loveridge knew senior year for her daughter Chloe would be expensive.
She was prepared for the cap, gown, announcements and prom costs. But other extras, such as trips to visit colleges, SAT fees, senior portraits, Grad Night and Senior Tea, added up in a big way.
“It seems like you’re doling out money here and there,” Loveridge said. “I knew it was coming, but you really don’t know until it’s there, how expensive it’s all going to be.”
Costs for senior year at Mount Si add up quickly. On average, SAT fees are $45, yearbooks are $62 and prom tickets are $35. Graduation announcements cost from $108 to $183, caps and gowns are from $47 to $102, and participation in the annual Grad Night excursion is $175. Even with the added costs, Loveridge feels it is worth it for her daughter’s happiness.
Like Loveridge, other parents are finding senior year to be costly, but have found loopholes to prepare themselves for the pricey year.
Working in the nerve center of the high school, Mount Si High School Secretary Valerie Meyers is probably better aware than most parents of the needs and wants of senior year. This year, it is Meyers’ turn to budget as daughter Molly nears the end of her high school year.
“Because the economy is the way that it is, I was really stressing for senior year. I said, ‘God how will I pay for all of this stuff,'” Meyers said. “But I just budgeted and was surprised. It was easier, since everything was spread over a few months. We paid for things like Grad Night one month and prom and the rest other months.”
By finding a photographer who charged less than the average costs of senior photos, and spreading expenses across the year, Meyers saved funds and frustration. She said it is important for parents to take the time to look around for savings.
College costs
High school costs aren’t the only thing that parents must prepare for. Also looming are college costs.
As students explore attending community, in-state and out-of-state colleges, parents begin to stress about getting their students to apply to schools and meet scholarship application deadlines, seeking opportunities to receive maximum financial help.
Colleges prices are rising. Nationwide, students and their families can expect to pay an average of $172 to $1,096 more in 2010 for tuition and fees, depending on the type of college, according to reports from the College Board.
Students will also pay an average of $377 to $420 more than last year for room and board. An average surcharge of $11,528 will affect full-time out-of-state students at public four-year institutions.
Mount Si parent Susan Sellers prepared for her daughters’ college costs 12 years ago when their family joined the Guaranteed Education Tuition, or GET, program.
At the time they joined the program, the Sellers began paying for tuition, guaranteeing that her daughters would have tuition money when they attended college.
Through GET, the state of Washington guarantees that the value of a family’s contributions will keep pace with resident undergraduate tuition and state-mandated fees at the most expensive public university in Washington, either the University of Washington or Washington State University.
Sellers’ daughter Shelby will attend the University of San Diego next fall; a scholarship will pay for a substantial portion of the tuition, easing a lot of stress off her family.
“We do have to pay a part of it,” Susan said. “But it ends up we’re paying what it would take to send her to an in-state school.”
Chloe Loveridge will attend the University of Arizona and was accepted in the honors program for engineering. Molly Meyers will attend the University of Idaho, with plans to walk on to the track team at Moscow. Both seniors have qualified for scholarships that will bring their tuition costs down to in-state prices or help ease the extra costs as out-of state students.
“Scholarships were really important to us, because it’s a big chunk of change,” Loveridge said. Chloe’s father, she said, stressed that the senior seek awards out.
To make senior year easier for families, they should start planning early and not wait, Sellers said.
“You just can’t leave any stone unturned,” Meyers said. “It’s just about taking steps.”
