When most Michigan college students start classes the week of Aug. 31, they've already made a tuition payment and arrangements for room and board.
But big expenses — some unexpected — still lie ahead for students and their families.
A college tuition bill is only one piece of what it costs to attend school. Universities factor thousands of dollars in additional expenses into their estimates of the annual cost of attendance, including books, transportation, food and personal expenses.
Those costs don't come in one neat bill. They're scattered throughout the year, and families and students can be surprised by how quickly they add up.
"There are so many of these little hidden daily costs that students are going to have to think about for the first
time," said Allison Shrivastava, an economist at Niche, an online platform that helps students and families research and compare higher education institutions.
Shrivastava used Niche's True Cost tool to estimate the non-tuition and non-room-and-board expenses students can face at Michigan colleges. Those costs include $25 a month for a phone plan, $20 a month for laundry and $30 a month on athletic and school events.
She also gave examples of costs that may not be expected such as those that come with starting up a credit or debit card for the first time and interview clothes for internships. Car and medical emergencies can also arise, big expenses that students and their families can't plan for.
Spending early – and often
The spending often starts before college classes begin.
College students and their families planned to spend an average of about $1,438 on back-to-school shopping, up from $1,326 in 2025 and surpassing the previous record of $1,367 set in 2023, the National Retail Federation estimated in a July news release.
Electronics were expected to be the biggest spending category, with consumers planning to spend an average of $342, according to the survey of nearly 8,000 consumers in early July. They also planned to spend an average of $194 on dorm or apartment furnishings, $182 on clothing and accessories, $154 on food and $133 on personal care items.
For some families, those purchases are only the beginning.
Expenses that can come as a surprise
As students move into dorms and apartments and begin classes, they may encounter additional costs for textbooks and course materials, transportation, software, printing, food, extracurricular activities and trips home. Some courses require a homework platform portal, which can cost a few hundred dollars, Shrivastava said. There can also be health fees and fees to join a club or sorority, for example, which add up.
Jessica Rouser, director of scholarships and financial aid at the University of Detroit Mercy, said books are one of the expenses families most often underestimate. Detroit Mercy estimates students will spend $1,468 on books and supplies during the 2026-27 academic year.
Commuting can also be a surprise expense, particularly at Detroit Mercy, where about half of students commute, Rouser said.
Students may assume living at home will save them money because they aren't paying for housing. Getting to campus, though, comes with a cost.
"If they don't have a car, then there's an extra cost that they have to try and figure out, whether that's taking an Uber or Lyft or finding someone in their neighborhood that they can carpool with," she said. "Those extra expenses can catch students and families by surprise."
Transportation is one of the few costs Ashley Goode's son Robert Darnell Lockhart will have to consider.
The 41-year-old Detroit mom said her son got several scholarships to attend Oakland University in Rochester, covering everything from tuition to books. She wasn't able to get a loan, however, for him to live on campus, so he's living with a family friend about 20 minutes away.
"We have a big support system for how he'll get around," Goode said, between his family and friends. She also said he can take the SMART bus, public transportation that would drop him off directly on campus.
Financial aid can add uncertainty
The financial-aid process itself can add another layer of uncertainty.
At Detroit Mercy, the cost of attendance is established in November for the following academic year, Rouser said. Those estimates are necessary to build financial aid packages, but the cost of living can change in the months between when the numbers are calculated and when students arrive on campus.
The university's 2026-27 cost-of-attendance estimates include allowances for expenses beyond tuition and fees. For an undergraduate student living off campus, Detroit Mercy estimates $3,220 for transportation and $10,830 for personal and miscellaneous expenses.
That doesn't mean the university expects every student to spend that amount, Rouser said. Still, she encourages students and families to sit down before the semester begins and think through their individual expenses rather than relying on the university-provided number.
Rouser said financial-aid counselors talk with students about borrowing responsibly and, when appropriate, using student-loan refunds to cover expenses beyond what the university bills them for.
"Students don't always realize that's what they can use their student loan for," she said.
Money can be a source of pressure
Not every college expense is strictly about books, rent or transportation.
For many students, college is also the first time they are regularly surrounded by peers from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds, Shrivastava said. That can make money itself a source of pressure.
"One of the biggest kinds of uncomfortable costs that people are going to encounter in college is that for a lot of these kids, they're going to be around students with different socioeconomic backgrounds for the first time," she said.
Going out to eat, for example, can mean very different things to students depending on how much money they have available.
"It's not something we're used to talking about," she said. "It gets really uncomfortable, and I think that is one of the biggest kind of social pressure costs that a lot of people don't necessarily think about."
Shrivastava said parents can help by teaching their children to talk openly about money and to be comfortable saying when something isn't within their budget.
"I think that's one of the biggest hidden costs," she said.
Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: The college costs that don't show up on the tuition bill
