The high cost of college fees -- Page 2

Other students say personal letters can reverse fees, but that getting a refund requires patience, perseverance and documentation.

You can also join other students in campaigning against rising fees.

"We've been successful in delaying or avoiding fees through direct action," says Rob Russell, a graduate student in geography at the University of Iowa. "Talk to deans and other decision-makers on campus and make your voice heard."

Paying slowly will cost you

The price for paying your tuition late, for any reason, can be steep. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a late payment charge of 1.75 percent is calculated on the outstanding balance.

"This charge is added each month to a delinquent account," according to the UIUC Web site. After three months of delinquency, the university will bill you a "collections fee" of $20 a month until the bill is paid.

Interestingly, UIUC no longer mails students their bills. So if you don't peruse your online bill and the online guide to deadlines and fees, you could be hit hard.

Think installments are the way to go? Check the installment fee first. At the University of Illinois, it's 1.5 percent of your total.

Library fines

Generally, all forms of college lateness are expensive.

Forget the 10 cents a day and a stern look from the librarian of your local library back home. At many universities, one book returned late costs more than a delivered pizza.

At Ohio State University, Curry says he pays "$10 per recalled book per day," and because the notifications are only sent by the university's not-always-reliable e-mail system, he pays $10 to $40 a month.

Make sure your library notices are being sent to an e-mail address you actually check.

Of course, it could be worse. In some college towns, library fines at the local library can mean jail. In Iowa City, a graduate student in poetry made headlines when he went to jail for a $447 local library bill.

Parking fines add up

Watch out for increasingly arcane campus parking rules.

At many schools, parking violations are big business. In tiny college towns where the university is the only thing going on, parking fines can add generously to the village coffers. All this means you should be super-vigilant when parking at or near a university.

At the University of Iowa, parking in a student lot without a sticker will run you $15, three times as much as a parking violation in the rest of town.

Mind your margins

If you're hoping for a master's degree or a Ph.D., be sure to strictly adhere to the style book when submitting papers. Your margins must be exact. An eighth of an inch in extra white space can mean an extra semester's worth of fees.

Universities have strict formatting rules for the appearance of a master's thesis and a Ph.D. dissertation. If the rules say that the margins must be seven-eighths of an inch, and you turn in a thesis with one-inch margins, your graduation date can be delayed. And you'll pay for the delay.

Even if your computer says your margins are seven-eighths of an inch, it doesn't mean anything. What matters is if the person in charge of margins thinks they are. So it's worth a trip to the office in charge of thesis formatting to double-check before you turn your masterpiece in.

If your thesis margins are deemed incorrect, you can find yourself paying for an extra semester, or you may be assessed some other fee for your lateness. And if your post-graduation job depends on a degree in hand, you're out of luck.

Special equipment? Borrow with care

When Sandy Chertok, a filmmaker in New York City, was an undergraduate, she borrowed a tripod from her university's film department.

"They claimed I lost the head of a tripod," Chertok says, "and billed me $120."

Chertok is sure she borrowed a tripod without a head, but because she didn't speak up when she checked it out, she had to pay up.

Cameras, recorders and other equipment that are not returned, or not returned in the condition you borrowed them, can cost you. So make sure that what you're borrowing is what you think you're borrowing, and be sure there's a written record of any problems you see right off the bat.

Lose it, and pay more

At Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, a lost student ID will run you $20. At Johns Hopkins, a lost key to a dorm room costs $75 of your hard-earned money.

And if what you lose is the desire to spend next year in school, that will cost you too. At Harvard's Kennedy School, the nonrefundable deferral fee is a cool $750.

Printing 101

The lower your tuition bill, the more likely you'll be asked to pay for extras, like printouts to the tune of 25 cents or even 50 cents a page. At community colleges, printouts tend to cost more than at private schools.

You can e-mail a document to yourself and print it out at home, and save several dollars per document. Just make sure there isn't a fine associated with using e-mail for personal use.

Many schools and university libraries have small stickers attached to their computers that say checking personal e-mail is not allowed. If you're caught, expect to pay a fine.