Your child is about to start an important stage of his school career, entering higher education, and he has been asking himself for a long time: How much can a degree cost? It’s time to account for expenses which you will have from now on. To help you with this task and find out how much a degree can cost, we have gathered the areas that you should consider in the adjustments to your family budget.
tuition fees
When we talk about how much a degree can cost, one of the first expenses that comes to mind is naturally the tuition fees. The maximum amount stipulated for tuition fees in public educational institutions in the 2021-2022 school year was 697 euros. In this way, for the three years of your child’s degree, the total cost will be approximately two thousand euros. private education, the values already become a little higher. Depending on the institution, tuition fees may vary between 2300 euros and 5900 euros per year. Before your child applies, ask the educational institution about the amount. In addition to the tuition fees, remember that you have to pay the same amount. the inscription, whose value also depends on each educational institution. The value can vary between 65 euros (public institutions) and 600 euros (private institutions).Also Read: Can’t Pay Your University Fees? Discover 6 solutions
Food
With your child’s entry into higher education, in addition to tuition fees, you must naturally take into account other costs, such as food. On average, one ticket for a complete meal, consisting of bread, drink, soup, main course and dessert, around 2.65 euros in public institutions. It is important, however, that look up the value of meal vouchers at the university that your child intends to attend, namely if it is a private one, as the value will certainly be different.Many institutions offer the possibility of buy password packs, which makes it possible to save on their unit value. Don’t forget to account for the costs of other meals, such as breakfast and snacks. If your child is displaced from your area of residence, remember the expenses he will have at the supermarket.
displacement
When you are estimating the expenses you will have with your child when entering university, you have to take into account the costs of moving from the residence to the educational institution. The ideal is always to use public transport, as it is the most economical option. However, in certain situations it may not be possible and in that case you must provide for the expenses with fuel, vehicle maintenance and tolls (if applicable).
Housing
If the higher education institution your child is going to attend is not located in your area of residence, you must take into account housing costs. The cheapest option is university residences. However, it can be difficult to get a place, as they are very limited. Most of the time these residences are occupied by scholarship students. However, you don’t lose anything in submitting an application. The values depend on each educational institution, but to get an idea, for example, at the University of Lisbon, the monthly cost for a scholarship student is 77.56 euros. The value for students without a scholarship can go from 155 euros to 200 euros per month, dependent on household income. Still in this example, the monthly cost includes the use of equipment installed in common areas, the use of internet and bed linen with the respective weekly replacement. rent a room to an individual, which depending on the area (usually on the coast it is more expensive than inland), can reach, on average, 250 euros monthly. There is also the possibility of rent an apartmentbut in this case, the cost is already very high, and can reach, depending on the area and type of property, 600 euros monthly.Also read: Going to University: Buying a house or renting?
Books and other material
When planning expenses, you cannot fail to account for the book costs that your child will have to acquire, as well as all the material necessary for the studysuch as photocopies, notebooks, computers, tablets, printers, among others.
erasmus
Attending an Erasmus program can be an enriching experience both academically and personally. However, you should also be aware of the costs you will incur if your child intends to study or do an internship abroad. First of all, you must make a budget.Your child can submit a Erasmus+ scholarship application, if the chosen destination is part of the European Union. If he gets the scholarship, he is assigned a certain amount that depends on the cost of living in the country where he intends to study. As in a national educational institution, when studying abroad, he has to take into account some other expenses, such as: travel, accommodation, fixed expenses (water, electricity, gas, internet, etc).
Scholarships
Educational institutions, whether public or private, always award scholarships to students in greater need or with better academic performance. scholarships for the most needy students must be carried out with the social action services of the educational institution. The scholarship always lasts for one academic year, that is, in a three-year degree, you have to make three applications, one for each year. for students with better academic performance, are awarded regardless of your household’s income. These grants are granted to students with exceptional performance. Also read: Is your child going to do Erasmus? These are the expenses to take into account
part time work
Many parents are afraid that their children’s school performance will drop if they work while they study. However, it is an option that you should consider, because in addition to your child being financially help with your training costsis enriching curriculum experience.There are many students who work during the holidays, or even during the school year, during the weekend or at the end of the day, in order to help with expenses. There are several options, such as working in stores, catering, or even giving explanations of chairs/subjects that he is more comfortable with.