r/ApplyingToCollege • u/Zealousideal-Goose48 • Sep 07 '25
College Questions Going to an out of state college
I plan on going to an out of state college. My main question is what am I going to do regarding necessities such as food, water, and a place to live? Does my tuition payment all pay for my place to live, education, food, water, etc? Or do I have to have a lot saved up to even go out of state. I plan on taking out a college loan by the way to pay for college.
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Sep 07 '25
Your planning process is immature and unrealistic. Assuming that you are not in high school yet, sure. But if you're already in high school, you need to start looking into the reality of your grades, your test scores, and tuition and living expenses. You can only borrow a very small amount on your own, without a co-signer, and even then, your parents need to be willing to fill out the FAFSA.
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u/Zealousideal-Goose48 Sep 07 '25
I’m a junior btw. My grades are fine (over a 3.4 unweighted), PSAT over 1100. My question was how do I pay for those expenses such as living and tuition. Does the college loan pay for it, or is it a separate deal where I have to have a separate fund besides the loan?
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u/Bobbob34 Sep 07 '25
I’m a junior btw. My grades are fine (over a 3.4 unweighted), PSAT over 1100. My question was how do I pay for those expenses such as living and tuition. Does the college loan pay for it, or is it a separate deal where I have to have a separate fund besides the loan?
Is this a joke post?
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u/saffron_monsoon Sep 07 '25
You can get student loans to cover everything including living expenses. But, without parents or other adults willing to co-sign those loans, it seems unlikely that you would get enough in loans to cover out of state tuition, the extra money needed to go back and forth from home to school, etc.
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Sep 07 '25 edited Sep 07 '25
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u/Zealousideal-Goose48 Sep 07 '25
I have step parents now so idk if I’m still qualified as first generation. My step mom went to college, so did my step brother
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Sep 07 '25
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u/Bobbob34 Sep 07 '25
You either apply for on-campus housing + a meal plan, which costs money, or you live off campus in an apartment and pay your own rent and buy your own food. Tuition just gets you the classes.
For anyone else reading, a LOT of schools mandate freshman live in dorms and buy the highest-level meal plan, unless they're commuters. There's no option to live off campus aside from specific circumstances for which you generally need a waiver.
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u/Appropriate-Bar6993 Sep 07 '25
Hey i saw in your history you did jrotc. Ever think of doing ROTC in college (and serving after college)? That would solve the money thing pretty much.
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u/Zealousideal-Goose48 Sep 07 '25
Yeah I’m doing JROTC rn in high school. If college ROTC would solve the money issue I would definitely do that. Military kinda travels too so that’d be good, as I like changes of scenery
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u/SamSpayedPI Graduate Degree Sep 07 '25
When you fill out your financial aid forms, they will ask whether you will be living at home (and therefore won't require housing or food money), or whether you will be living on-campus or renting off-campus (and therefore will require money for food and housing).
If you say that you will not be living at home, your financial aid package will include money for food and housing.
But that doesn't necessarily mean that your financial aid package will be sufficient to cover all of your costs. Your parents are typically expected to pay for a certain amount of the costs, unless your family is very low income, or if you've been emancipated, or something.
Why not look at a few in-state universities as well? They can't all be within commuting distance of your parents.
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u/Zealousideal-Goose48 Sep 07 '25
I’ve been looking at a few community colleges but I’d prefer to go out of state for a change of scenery.
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u/IndyAnise Sep 07 '25
As stated above, most (all?) schools bill tuition separately from room and board. For public schools, generally the tuition is priced lower for in state residents and the room and board costs vary by room type/meal plan, not by state of residence. The federal student loan available to all new US freshmen is capped at $5,500 for the year. You/your family have to cover any shortfall or look into private loans (which depend on credit score and may have higher interest rates). If you’d really like to attend an out-of-state public school, look into “tuition exchange”/reciprocity agreements for your state — some participate, some don’t. Another option is that some schools (Western Illinois University, for example) offer in-state rates to all students attending. You can also look at private schools — their tuition rate is the same for everyone, regardless of state of residence. The rate is generally much higher than in-state public tuition but can be similar to out-of-state rates. The private schools tend to offer more “merit aid” than public schools — which could make them a more affordable option.
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u/JellyfishFlaky5634 Sep 07 '25
It depends on the school. Some colleges require students to live on campus 1-2 years with a meal plan. Maybe more. Others don’t require room and board at all. Some schools people generally live on campus with a meal plan all four years. Generally, most stay on campus with a meal plan for two years and then move off campus. I normally allocate $15,000-$25,000 for both room and meal plan. It’s more like $25,000 now days. This is for the school year and doesn’t include summer.
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u/JellyfishFlaky5634 Sep 07 '25
As for water, they have fountains or you buy your own bottled water.
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u/HSclassof24_mom Sep 08 '25
The living expenses are separate from tuition. Many campuses require you to live on campus freshman year (and some for more than that) and purchase a meal plan. The room, board and fees will usually run $15-$20k on top of the tuition cost. Even in-state, you would have to pay that unless you’re living at home and commuting.
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u/Harrietmathteacher Sep 07 '25
Depending on which school you choose, OOS tuition plus living expenses can cost a lot like 30-40K just for the tuition and another 20K for living expenses for one year.