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home › Featured Articles › Back to School › Managing the Expense of Your Child’s Senior Year

Plan Ahead to Manage Expense of Child’s Senior Year

Your child’s senior year will be filled with memorable moments that will define his or her last year in high school. But at what cost to you? By planning ahead with your son or daughter and not feeling obligated to buy and do everything, you can mitigate costs while providing your child a valuable life lesson in finance.

Take Inventory

Before you establish a budget for senior costs, get a big-picture view of the possible expenses. Ask your school, and other parents, about anticipated costs:

Senior photographs: Photos may cost as little as $25 or as much as $500 for a professional shoot.
Yearbook: In addition to the yearbook, many schools offer yearbook ads at varied prices.
Memorabilia: Class rings can cost several hundred dollars, and letter jackets may cost well over $100.
Academics: Your child may take standardized tests such as the SAT for $47, or tests for AP classes at $87 each. Each college your child applies to will have an application fee ranging from $35 to $80 or more.
Class trips: Your child's school may sponsor a senior trip or another pricey celebratory activity.
School dances: The average American family with a high school student attending prom in 2011 planned to spend $807 on prom-related costs. This included formal wear, hair and makeup, flowers, photos, limousines, and dance tickets.
Year-end fines: Unreturned textbooks, library books, or athletic equipment could mean fines to settle before your student can receive a diploma.
Graduation: Buying or renting the cap, gown, and tassel; paying for photos and graduation announcements; hosting graduation parties; and bringing in out-of-town relatives quickly can add up.

Make Choices

Once you know the impending costs, examine your financial situation early. Decide how much you’re willing and able to spend; then, sit down with your student to make some choices:

Discuss needs, such as the cap and gown, versus wants, such as a class ring, and ask your child to choose what items are most important to him or her.
If your child isn’t happy about the concessions he or she has to make based on your budget, suggest he or she pitches in.

Team Up with Others

Work with other parents in the same boat to generate money-saving ideas such as:

Having the school host a car wash, auction, or breakfast to pay for or reduce costs for events.
Co-hosting a graduation party for your respective children, so you can split costs.

Ask relatives to pay for senior pictures or another commemorative item in place of giving your child cash for graduation.