Why Your Teen’s Senior Year Can Cost Upwards Of $10,000

School is back in session, fortunate for some quiet time during the day, but unfortunate for your pocketbook if you have a new rising senior.

By DAVID on August 6, 2018
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

It’s the time of the year when kids are heading back to school. If they aren’t back already, they’re going back in the next few weeks. And if you’ve got a new senior on your hands, you might be looking at some big student fees.

Back to school shopping is a big one, but that happens with any student. Binders, pens, backpacks (seriously, don’t they already have one?). Advanced math classes might need a bigger better graphing calculator, that’s $100+ right there. Clothes and shoes since they keep growing, there’s a few hundred more. Do they have a car? Are they paying for it on their own? If not, insurance, gas, payments. That all adds up too. But even more than that, there are a lot of other things that nickle and dime us to death.

How can senior year cost as much as $10,000? Well, there are a lot of things to consider. Obviously not all of these things are totally necessary, like taking out an “ad” in the school’s yearbook. Not to mention potential legal fees over senior pranks, too. We’ll break down a list of some of the popular things related to students in senior year just below.

-The yearbook itself can cost anywhere up to a couple hundred bucks. It’s a nice memory to have though.
-The yearbook ads. Those pages in the back that families can sponsor to write about and congratulate their graduating student. THey can cost up to $250 or more in some cases.
-Senior portraits. You can use the basic ones that the school provides, or you can go all-out and find a photographer to take portraits for you. That can run about $500 or more as well.
-Memorabilia – t-shirts, sweaters, etc.
-Test-prep classes can cost as much as $5k!
-Did you know there’s fees for testing in some cases now? Chalk up another $350 or so in some cases.
-College application fees
-Speaking of colleges, think about travelling to colleges to check them out. There are travel fees, you know.

There are a TON more things that cost, from the prom to senior trips. After reading through the list from this website, I really feel sorry for my parents – I never realized how much and how quickly everything adds up.

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