by Mark TarsesWhen a high school student and his parents try to figure out how much money they are going to need for college, they usually assume that telephone bills will be just a minor expense, if they think about it at all.
However, most college students find that long-distance phone calls are a surprisingly big expense. When a high school student moves from his parent's house to a college dorm room, his monthly phone bills often skyrocket. The cost of phoning parents and friends back home can burn a big hole in a college student's budget.
While long-distance cell phone calls can be expensive, most college phone plan calls are much more expensive. Most colleges have exclusive contracts with a single long-distance carrier (which having a monopoly, charges accordingly), plus the college itself usually makes a profit on every call made under its plan.
Here at U.C.B. (University of California at Berkeley), out-of-state phone calls made from a dorm room using the university's phone plan cost 18¢ a minute. (To see the full rate chart, go to: U.C. Berkeley Residence Halls Phone Rates.)
At 18¢ a minute, it costs over $10.00 an hour to talk to friends and family back home. It is easy to see why many college students spend $200 to $300 a month on long-distance phone calls.
For a much cheaper alternative, buy some prepaid telephone calling cards at Costco or Sam's Club. Costco sells MCI calling cards, and Sam's Club sells AT&T calling cards. With these cards, you pay under 3¢ a minute for long-distance phone calls. That's a savngs of more than 80% over the Berkeley dorm phone plan!!!
Using Costco or Sam's Club calling cards, a $200 a month long-distance bill shrinks to just $40., for a savings of $160. a month. For most college students, that is a lot of money!
Note to parents and grandparents of college students: If you want to send a gift to a college student and don't know what to send, send telephone calling cards! They are easy to ship; they will be appreciated; and they will get used! Plus, you will hear from your kids more often if they have prepaid calling cards!
August, 2003