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• Here’s another good post from a blog I’ve written about before in U.S. News and World Report called Twice the College Advice, written by Lindsey Mayfield, a sophomore at KU, and her mother, Julie Mayfield.
In this post, Juile reports exactly what the family paid for one year of college education. The total? $17,435.
That’s $5,654 for room and board, $3,258 to a sorority, $2,651 for tuition (after scholarships), $2,322 for one-time expenses (a computer, a printer), $1,976 in campus fees, $1,074 for books and $500 for deposits (enrollment and housing).
And Lindsey broke down what she paid, too. It came to $3,544.60. She called that a “rough estimate.” It kind of reminded me of the time an old high school teacher told me to meet him somewhere at “approximately 3:38,” but, whatever.
Her breakdown went like this: $651.79 for food, $515.55 for clothes, $534.21 for gas, $1,063.34 for “personal” expenses (cash withdrawals, travel, movie tickets, books, haircuts, etc.) and $779.71 for “miscellaneous,” which she describes as “mostly Target runs.”
“One thing I've learned is to beware of the Target run — or trips to a similar store,” Lindsey wrote. “I spent huge chunks of cash at Target last year on miscellaneous items that seemed important at the time, but now are things I can't seem to remember.”
Most of those expenses seemed pretty logical to me, and seemed like a pretty good breakdown of the costs — just shy of $21,000. I’ll say this, though. The year I spend nearly as much on clothes as I do on gas will be the one where my car explodes on Groundhog Day.
• Some mice and rats used in university research might be getting a little more breathing room soon thanks to new guidelines from the federal government.
I spotted this NPR story on new recommendations from the National Institutes of Health for how universities house their animals.
The exact nature of the change is apparently a little vague, but different universities are anticipating that they could be facing big bills to bring their facilities into compliance.
Johns Hopkins — a giant of medical research — is profiled a bit in the article.
I naturally wondered how this might affect KU. Apparently the answer is not terribly much.
Officials at KU Medical Center and KU’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies on the Lawrence campus gave me a few details about the extent to which rats and mice are used on campus. KUMC deals with between 400 to 500 cages of rats and 4,000 to 5,000 cages of mice with one to five mice per cage.
In Lawrence, the totals are more like 300 rat cages and 2,000 cages of mice.
KUMC is looking at options, but may have to spend $36,000 or so on new cages, while the Lawrence campus might have to spend between $15,000 and $20,000.
• A KU Hospital executive has left the hospital for a new job in Chicago.
Scott Glasrud, who has served as chief financial officer for KU Hospital and most recently was senior vice president for health system development, will become the new executive vice president and chief operating officer at UHC, an academic medical organization with 115 academic medical centers and 259 of their affiliated hospitals.
Glasrud will report to Irene Thompson, UHC’s president and CEO.
Some astute readers may recognize Irene Thompson better by the name she used to go by — Irene Cumming — when she was president and CEO of KU Hospital from 1996 to 2007.
• You don’t need to run to Target to submit a tip for Heard on the Hill. Just drop me an email at ahyland@ljworld.com.
Comments
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NotASquishHead (anonymous) says…
I loved the work by Lindesy and her mom. Neat story. However, I didn't see an alcohol line item... Freshman or not, nearly every student on campus drinks at least every once in a while.
Vinny1 (anonymous) replies…
"Personal Expenses" and "Miscellaneous" are where the booze is. Also, she's a girl so she gets lots free/bought for her.
mom_of_three (anonymous) says…
Nearly every student on campus drinks at least once in a while? I don't think so. You underestimate this age group.
gsxr600 (anonymous) replies…
Not sure what planet you live on.
mom_of_three (anonymous) replies…
I didn't drink in college, and I know kids now that do not drink in college. Not everyone drinks, plain and simple. And some are too scared to get caught underage.
i live on this planet, not sure where you live.
gsxr600 (anonymous) replies…
Nearly. Every. Student. On. Campus. Drinks. At. Least. Once. In. A. While.
You didn't. Ok. Not sure when you went to college but nowadays alcohol is everywhere, especially sororities and fraternities. If you fail to accept this, you must be naive.
chimericdream (anonymous) replies…
Out of curiosity, are you a current student? I am, and (anecdotally) I know a small handful of people who drink regularly. You need to make an important distinction between "nearly every" and "many". No one would disagree (if they were being rational) that "many" college students drink, regardless of age. However, your claim that "nearly every", which to me means 75-95%, student drinks is more than a little hyperbolic.
KU's alcohol awareness site lists as 24% (2006, the most recent statistic posted) the number of students who drink a few times per month or more. This is _far_ from "nearly every", no matter how you define it.
Yes, many college students drink. No, not all of them do (or even nearly all).
mom_of_three (anonymous) replies…
nope. not naive. not nearly every student drinks once in a while, especially the underage.
I have been around more teenagers and college students than you know and not. nearly. every. underage. student.on.campus. drinks.
number3of5 (anonymous) says…
I can see the personal expenses of food and gas, but to spend that much on clothes, personal items and miscellaneous is living a little too high for my budget. Folks must have money, or the girl works hard for these things.
billbodiggens (anonymous) says…
Sounds like she was living high on the hog. I'm not certain what the story was trying to convey. It did not appear to be any any type of budgeting story or how to survive higher education on a shoe string or limited resources.
johnwoods (anonymous) says…
I'm not sure what she had included in "Room and Board" or if she received meals at the Sorority, but $652 for food seems underestimated.
CreatureComforts (anonymous) replies…
Even if she does get meals as part of room/board, it's to be expected that someone will occasionally eat out