8 College Fees You Didn't Plan For

There is no doubt that college has its expenses, but beyond tuition and supplies, there are dozens of other hidden costs you should plan to incur. SmartMoney.com put together a great list of 8 college fees you probably aren’t planning on. You can find a few of their tips below, or check out the full list here.

Freshman orientation: $100

Orientation isn’t usually optional, but neither is it free. For opening dorms early, guest speakers or, yes, even orientation parties, some schools charge $100 per student – or more. Iowa State University charges $190. Boston University charges $215 per student; if parents and siblings attend, they're charged $100 and $50 each, respectively.

Study abroad enrollment: $800

Aside from regular tuition and the costs associated with living abroad, some schools tack on a “maintenance fee” for study abroad. Purdue University, for example, charges a fee of up to $853.35 per semester if a student goes abroad through a program that isn’t run by Purdue. A spokeswoman for the university says the fee covers maintaining relationships with the host university, including the cost for Purdue officials to travel to the school abroad to check on the program.

Technology: $130 to $445

The days of free computer labs are over. Nowadays students are often charged about $200 per year to cover maintenance, ink and paper, says a spokesman for the U.S. Student Association, a network of college student governments. And more tech-oriented students pay more. At Iowa State, most students pay $115 per semester, but majors in fields like engineering and computer science pay $223.

Student activities: $270

The extracurricular activities on campus look free, in that students don’t have to pay to attend them. Instead, there’s a student union fee tacked on to tuition bills to help pay for the student newspapers and activities like dances. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Maryland, it’s $272 for the year. At California State University, Fresno, it’s up to $109 per semester to pay for the recreation center, plus a $34.50 student body fee for support of on-campus student organizations.

Sports: $200 to $1,000

Big-time jocks get college scholarships. Amateurs and enthusiasts have to pay to play. At Ohio State, students in intramural sports will pay up to $125 per team per quarter. These sports aren’t supported by university athletic departments, so they turn to students for funding, says Rod Bugarin, a former financial aid officer at Brown and Columbia universities. And even if your child isn’t the athletic type, you may still have to pay $1,000 or more to support a school’s athletic program – especially if it’s in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s top division, says a USSA spokesman.

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Schools Pack In More Kids to Cope With Cuts

Many California students returning to school this week are being squeezed into over-crowded classrooms. According to the Sacramento Bee, the state is seeing the largest average class sizes in over a decade. The change is part of a new trend where schools are requesting class-size increases, without having to pay stiff penalties, in order to save money.

Large numbers of school districts are bombarding the state with requests to expand classes beyond the legal limits.

The California Board of Education, which reviews class-size waiver requests, gave out 16 exemptions in an 11-month period ending in July. Since then, the board heard 16 more waiver requests at its board meeting Aug. 2 and expects another 16 in September, said Judy Pinegar, manager of the waiver office at the California Department of Education.

The state had no requests for class size increases between 1999 and 2009.

"It's the hot item right now," Pinegar said. "I'm expecting almost every district in the state to request one."

The state allows an average of 31 students in kindergarten, 30 in first through third grade and 29.9 in fourth through eighth grade.

Continue reading at SacBee.com…

Sending your Child Back to School Without Breaking the Bank

According to a recent survey, nearly 60 percent of parents plan to change the way they shop for back to school items for their children because of the poor economy. The same survey also found that over a quarter of the parents in this country said their children needed more expensive items, such as computers, because of education related budget cuts.

Although not all U.S. taxpayers have children, the back to school season is second only to December holiday shopping when it comes to the amount of money American consumers spend in a month. To help the readers of my blog looking to send their children back to school without breaking the bank, I have put together the following list of money saving tips.

Read Reviews Online

Before you embark on a back to school shopping trip you should always do some online research, especially if you are going to buy expensive items like a computer or laptop. Read reviews from other customers, and run a few searches to make sure you are getting the best deal.

Shop Online

These days it is easy to buy supplies online, and a lot of retailers even offer free shipping on some purchases. Even if you have to pay for shipping, the money you save will often outweigh the added shipping expenses.

Start Early & Watch for Sales

It is already August, and some children will begin going back to school in a week or two. There is no need to wait until your child’s first day of class to purchase all of the supplies they need. Start shopping now, and be on the lookout for good sales. If you do not know what supplies your child will need, then you could try contacting either their teachers or parents of other students in the same grade.

Buy in Bulk

With basic supplies – such as pencils, paper, glue sticks, etc. – you might want to consider buying in bulk. Although your son or daughter obviously does not need a few dozen pencils on the first day of class, you can stock up now and use the supplies throughout the year. During back to school season many education essentials are discounted significantly, and by stocking up now you can save a decent amount of money throughout the year.

Take Advantage of Sales Tax Free Weekends

If you live in a state that has a sales tax free weekend you should try to plan your back to school shopping around the days when the tax breaks are in affect. Many stores also offer additional discounts on school supplies during sales tax free weekends. There are dozens of states offering some type of tax free holidays including Florida, Texas, New York, Iowa, and many others. To see if your state is offering a tax free holiday, check out this article on About.com.

Donate a Backpack

While you are purchasing supplies for your child, it is important to remember that there are thousands of children in this country without the supplies they need to succeed. During back to school season there are always charity drives asking for backpack donations, and if you can afford the extra expense I highly recommend making a contribution. In addition to helping out a child in need, you can also keep the receipt and claim the donation as a charitable contribution on your next tax return.

Hire this Summer and Get a Tax Break

If you are an employer, you don’t want to overlook the HIRE Act tax benefits. If you are looking to hire some new employees, college students are a great idea for a summer position. This is exactly what Congress is trying to encourage people to do, hire an employee who hasn’t worked more than 40 hours in the last 60 days before getting hired, and you may qualify for a temporary tax break. Passed in March, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act would allow an employer with any qualified hire after February 3rd to skip paying the 6.2% Social Security taxes on the worker’s wages from March 19 through the rest of the year. This would save an employer nearly $2500 on $40,000 of pay.

A qualified hire would be someone who is unemployed this year (after February 3, 2010 and before Jan 1, 2011) and has not worked over 40 hours in the last 60 days.

The law is most useful to large corporations where they can use the HIRE provisions to save millions of dollars, but the law is also useful to small businesses. For example, these tax breaks work for businesses this summer who want to hire kids on summer break to help with paperwork or businesses that want to hire college students who haven’t worked elsewhere in the last 60 days and therefore, would be considered a “qualified employee.”

Tax Advice for Students Working a Summer Job

The school year is nearing an end for student all across the country and whether it is summer school or an entry level career job, millions of new employees will begin to enter the work force. If you are a working student yourself, or a parent of a child looking to get their first summer job, you might be concerned about the tax implications of being an employee. I have put together the following list of tax tips—let’s call it taxes 101 for wage earners—specifically for students working a summer job.

You will Need to Complete a W-4 Form

Whenever you start a new job you required to complete an IRS Form W-4, which essentially tells your employer the amount of tax to withhold from your paycheck. If you are not sure about what filing status you should claim or the number of exemptions to take, check out the withholding calculator on IRS.gov. At the start of a new job, you will also need to provide a government issued form of identification such as a driver’s license and proof of your social security number.

Tips and Odd Jobs are Taxable Income

If you work as a waiter, or any other position where you receive tips, you will need to report this money on your tax return. According to the IRS, all income from tips is subject to the federal income tax. Additionally, earnings from odd jobs such as house sitting, baby sitting, or mowing your neighbor’s lawn, are also subject to federal taxes.

Wages Paid Under the Table

Some employers will offer to pay students’ wages under the table – meaning they will not report the income to the IRS or withhold any taxes. However, it is your legal responsibility to claim this income on your federal tax return, regardless of whether or not the employer sends you a W-2 Form.

$400 or More Rule

If you earn $400 or more from any form of self-employment then you will have to pay self-employment tax on the income. This tax goes to Social Security and Medicare, which are usually taxes that are withheld from a wage earners paycheck. You will need to include your income, and calculate your self-employment tax on Schedule SE of your next IRS Form 1040.

Special Tax Laws for Newspaper Deliverers

There are a handful of special rules that apply to newspaper carriers or distributors. Technically, the IRS will treat you like a self-employed taxpayer as long as you meet the following conditions:

• You are in the business of distributing newspapers
• The pay you receive is related to your sales as opposed to the number of hours worked
• The distribution services are performed under a written agreement stating that you are not to be treated as a wage-earning employee in regards to federal taxes.

On a related note, children under the age of 18 working in the newspaper delivery business are not usually subject to the federal self-employment tax.