Most of
us have skipped a college class or two and, unless we missed a midterm or a
final that day, probably didn’t think it was that big a deal.
But have
you actually taken the time to figure out exactly how much money each one of
those cut classes is costing you?
We took
the published tuition costs (not including room and board, textbooks, etc.) for
the top seven U.S. colleges in the U.S. New & World Report’s “America’s
Best Colleges 2008” rankings and calculated how much you’re paying for each
class you snooze through.
1. At Princeton, each class
you skip costs you $300.
2. At Harvard, each class you skip
costs you $242.
3. At Yale, each class you skip costs
you $241.
4. At Stanford, each class you
skip costs you $82.
5. At the University
of Pennsylvania, each class you skip costs you $243.
6. At Cal Tech, each class you skip costs you $195.
7. At MIT, each class you skip costs you
$238.
To get
our cost-per-class numbers, we took the yearly tuition for each school, divided
it into two semesters, and then further divided over the average course load
and the number of class sessions per course per semester. Of course, you usually
have to buy books or other materials for each class, which would make your cost
per class even higher.
The
bottom line? Skipping class for a bite to eat, to catch a movie, or just to
sleep in costs a heck of a lot more than the price of the meal or the movie
ticket. You’re already paying for those classes; don’t rip yourself off by not
going.
Think of
it this way: Would you spend a year researching exotic destinations, planning a
fantastic vacation, drop $2,500 on a plane ticket and advance hotel
reservations—and then just not show up for your flight?
If you’re
going to make it through high school, take the SATs, put yourself through all
the college applications and essays, and then pay tens of thousands of dollars
for four or five years of tuition, you should at least get your hard work and money’s
worth by going to class.