Also ..."why would I want to live off campus ...?" ... well, because we are NOT going to pay the extra $5000 a year per kid that it would cost us for you to live on campus
Why do you think it's cheaper to live OFF campus? Where my daughter goes to school apartments ARE VERY EXPENSIVE, plus she only lives there 9 months of the year so we would have to play 3 months she doesn't use. In addition they are utilities & internet to pay. This is even if you put the 2 students per room in an apartment.
Because we were looking at smaller town colleges where renting small units comes cheaper than on campus housing, especially when we would most likely have two boys in college at the same time. Plus, assuming they'd have a job while at school, I would think they'd stay there 12 months and not just 9 months if they want to still have their jobs when they come back, not to mention if they are taking summer classes, summer housing on campus is usually more expensive (or was when I was in college).
But as I mention before, in our case there's a big issue with food (and other allergies) so living off campus would also be more practical and safer.
Plus, depending on the location, we might consider purchasing a small property and instead of renting we'd be paying mortgage and keep the property as a rental once we wouldn't need it for our kids anymore. Wouldn't be the first parents doing it this way. At least we would see our money going towards something we would still benefit from.
