How accurate is the "other costs" component of COA?

Another thing to remember is that the further they are along in college the less they come hone. By junior yr. my kid stayed on campus during Oct. break & Feb break (his college had a different schedule than most) Also, a lot of parents stop going to Parents weekend.after freshman year.

Also, ditto what Marian said about hotel prices - especially if college is in a small city/town. The normal rate for hotel room we paid for random weekend was $100/night. Graduation weekend it was $385 and was pay in advance. We chose to stay 20 minutes away in another town and it was $125 cheaper per night and we didn’t have to pay in advance.