Financial Costs to Consider Before Starting Graduate School
Graduate school is a significant investment in your future, and understanding the financial costs beyond tuition and fees is important. For first-generation students, understanding living costs and planning ahead can make the transition smoother and help you create a realistic budget for your graduate school journey.
In this resource, here are the financial considerations we will review:
Housing
Transportation
Groceries
Basic Needs
My personal experiences
🏠 Housing
The cost of living can vary significantly depending on where you're considering graduate school. Before committing to a school, research whether the overall cost of attending fits with your budget.
When considering housing, reflect on the following questions:
Does the graduate program offer on-campus housing for graduate students?
Will you need to find off-campus housing?
Will you live alone or with roommates?
What is the average monthly rent in the area?
You will also need to take into consideration additional housing-related expenses, such as:
Security deposits
Utilities (e.g., electricity, water, internet)
🏡 Master’s Program Housing Experience
When moving to Southern California from the Bay Area for graduate school one of my first priorities was figuring out where I would live. I researched whether my program offered housing for graduate students, but I learned that graduate housing was either unavailable or very limited. As I considered my housing options, I knew that having a private room and access to a kitchen to cook meals were important for me. I focused on apartment-style housing (off-campus) rather than traditional dorm-style housing.
Many universities have student housing groups on Facebook, which can be a useful resource for finding available rooms and connecting with potential roommates. I did not have a Facebook account before starting my housing search, but I created one specifically to access student housing groups. If you do not already have an account, don’t worry- you can easily create one and use it as a tool to connect with students and explore housing opportunities.
Once I created my account, I looked for Facebook housing groups for my university by searching “[University name] roommate finder” or [University name] student housing” and regularly reviewed student postings. These postings typically include the following information:
The room available (with pictures)
Monthly rent
Utility costs
Move in dates
Potential roommates you will be living with
I identified several factors that were personally important to me when reviewing the postings including:
Living a reasonable distance from campus (~20-30 minutes)
Having a personal room
Finding roommates with similar values and lifestyle
An area I felt safe (e.g., family neighborhood)
Staying within my budget for rent/utilities
Since I lived about 6-7 hours away, I had limited opportunities to visit locations in person. After narrowing my options to two locations that met my needs, I traveled with my parents one weekend to tour both locations. Seeing the spaces in person helped me make an informed decision, and I ultimately chose the location that best fit my budget, preferences, and living needs.
This experience taught me the importance of starting the housing search early. Finding housing can be a time-consuming process that involves submitting applications, completing credit checks, waiting for current tenants to move out, paying security deposits and signing lease agreements. Beginning your search several months in advance may help you avoid last-minute stress and provide housing options to choose from.
🏡 PhD Program Housing Experience
My experience as an incoming PhD student has been different because the university I committed to offers apartment style housing specifically for graduate students. When considering PhD programs, the availability of graduate student housing was important for me because it increased my confidence that I could find affordable housing that fit within my budget.
Information about graduate student housing can typically be found on the university housing website and includes:
Rental rates
Eligibility requirements
Application procedures
Floor plans
Utilities included (e.g., wifi, trash)
Furnishing (e.g., bed, desk, couch)
Graduate student housing may also be more affordable than off-campus options because utilities such as WI-Fi, water, trash, or electricity are often included in the rental costs. Some graduate housing apartments also come fully or partially furnished with items such as a bed, desk, couch, or dining table. This can reduce upfront moving expenses and eliminate the need to purchase or transport furniture, which may be helpful if you are relocating from another city or state.
If you are considering graduate student housing if your program offers it, ensure to review housing application timelines and deadlines early, as space may be limited and room assignments are sometimes made on a first-come, first-served basis.
🚗 Transportation
Consider how you will travel to and from campus, ask yourself:
Will you need a personal vehicle?
Is public transportation available and accessible?
If you plan to drive, consider:
Student parking permits vs. street parking availability
Gas costs
Car insurance
Vehicle maintenance and repairs
🚘 Master’s Program Transportation Experience
In my master’s program I knew I would be using my car because my housing location was 20 minutes away from campus. Here are transportation-related expenses I had:
Student parking permit
I chose to pay for a parking permit because street parking near campus was very difficult to find
Weekly gas expenses
Monthly car insurance payments
Occasional vehicle maintenance and repairs
While maintenance was rare for me, it did happen. For example, there was one instance when my car did not start one morning as I was getting ready to head to campus, which highlights the importance of planning for unexpected costs.
🚘 PhD Program: Transportation Experience
For my PhD program, since I will be living on campus, I anticipate I will be walking much more on a daily basis rather than commuting to campus and will be using my car primarily for grocery shopping and visiting my partner and family during the weekends.
🥦 Groceries
Food expenses are an important part of your graduate school budget. Consider if you will be buying groceries/preparing meals or will be purchasing a meal-plan. Ask yourself:
Will you have a meal plan on campus?
Are grocery stores located near your housing or campus?
Are these grocery stores affordable?
Do you plan to cook most meals at home or eat out frequently?
What is a realistic weekly/monthly grocery budget for you?
Many universities also offer resources to support students experiencing food insecurity, such as:
Campus food pantries
Emergency meal programs
Basic needs centers
If you meet federal income eligibility requirements, consider applying for CalFresh, a program that provides monthly food assistance benefits to eligible low-income individuals and students.
🥗 Master’s Program Grocery Experience
During my master’s program, I primarily cooked my meals at home and intentionally limited how often I ate out to keep my food expenses within my budget. Here are tips I used to manage my grocery shopping:
Shopped at a variety of grocery stores to compare prices (e.g., Trader Joe’s, Ralphs, Aldi)
Created a weekly grocery budget
Planned my weekly meals ahead of time to avoid buying food that would go unused or go to waste
Checked my pantry before grocery shopping to see what items I already had and needed to use
Applied to CalFresh
Consistently packed my own lunch when on campus to avoid purchasing food
🧽 Basic Needs
When creating your budget, remember to account for basic household and personal care expenses. These costs can add up quickly and are often overlooked when planning for graduate school, consider:
Cleaning supplies (e.g., dish soap, paper towels, trash bags)
Laundry supplies (e.g., laundry detergent, dryer sheets)
Personal hygiene products (e.g., face wash, toothpaste)
Household items and furnishings
Basic needs can vary depending on whether you are living on or off campus and you may not need to purchase every item individually.
🧽 Master’s Program Basic Needs Experience
During my master’s program, living with roommates helped me reduce costs because we were able to divide expenses. For example, cleaning supplies such as dish soap, paper towels, and disinfectant wipes were split among roommates. My roommates also already had kitchen/living room furniture when I moved in, so I did not need to purchase those items myself.
We also shared kitchen essentials such as pots, pans, blender, air fryer and other cooking tools and split the cost of a television to reduce the financial costs of our household expenses.
Conclusion
And there you have it, in this article we covered financial considerations before starting graduate school including:
Housing
Transportation
Groceries
Basic Needs
My personal experiences
Financial Resources & Literacy