Control Your College Application Costs

Applying to college these days isn't a cheap proposition. The average student applying to six or more colleges can easily end up paying $500 and up just to apply to college.

Application fees range from $25 to $90 for each college. Tack on another $9.50 for every SAT score report sent, or $8.50 for every ACT score report. At some colleges, it can even cost money to apply for financial aid. While the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is always free, if you're applying to a college that also require the CSS Profile, you'll pay $25 for your initial Profile application and first school report, and $16 for each Profile sent after that. Add in related costs, such as postage for recommendation letters, interview travel, and the transcript fees now charged by some high schools, and families can quickly start to feel overwhelmed with college costs before a single acceptance letter has arrived.

Savvy students and their parents can keep application costs under control, however, by following a few simple steps.

Take advantage of application fee waivers. Many colleges will waive their application fees for students who meet certain criteria. Using fee waivers to apply will not affect your chance of admission.

The most common application fee waivers are tied to family income. Students from low income families should ask their school counselor about fee waivers from the College Board and the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) as soon as possible. Your counselor will give you a signed form to send to colleges. If you’re using the Common Application, when you finish your application, you’ll indicate that you’ll be using a fee waiver when you get to the “Payment” section. Some colleges also have their own way of providing fee waivers to students who otherwise couldn’t afford to apply. For example, the University of California will automatically grant up to four fee waivers for students who qualify for them as part of the online application process. If paying application fees will be a hardship for your family, it is a good idea to ask each college where you plan to apply about their fee waiver procedures. If you used fee waivers to take the SAT, you will automatically also receive up to four additional free Score Reports, and fees will be waived for submitting the Profile to six colleges.

However, colleges also waive fees for a variety of reasons unrelated to family income. Many will automatically waive or reduce their fees if students apply online. Rollins College in Florida and Union College in New York are two of a number of institutions that waive fees if you sign up for their mailing lists early in the year. The University of Maryland lets National Merit Scholar finalists and semi-finalists apply for free. Other institutions waive application fees for students who visit campus, are the children of alumni, or who apply by a certain deadline. A group of colleges in Iowa will let students apply for free to any members of the group if the student visits three colleges in the group during Iowa College Week. You can find a list of colleges that waive application fees for various reasons at the Free College Applications website. However, colleges are constantly changing their policies on fee waivers, so it never hurts to directly ask the schools you’re applying to about fee waiver opportunities.

Plan ahead. With careful planning, you can save on some application-related costs. For instance, when you take the SAT for the last time, be sure to indicate four of the colleges where you plan to apply when you register. They’ll automatically receive your entire SAT Score Report and you won’t have to pay. Of course, keep in mind that the College Board will not send updates to colleges if you test again. Planning ahead also gives you a chance to contact colleges about fee waivers, and to get the necessary forms or letters from your school counselor to take full advantage of them.

Consider what really needs to be sent. Each college has different application requirements. You can save some money by paying attention to individual requirements, instead of treating every school the same. For example, only a handful of colleges ask students to send their official AP Score Report before they’ve actually matriculated. You can save $15 per college by waiting to send your AP Scores after you’ve decided where you’ll attend.

Avoid paying extra for rush service. Your application costs will skyrocket if you cut deadlines too closely. Having to Next Day Air missing application materials can be costly. You’ll also pay an extra $27 for “rush reporting” of SAT Score Reports if you forget to send them in time to meet application deadlines.