College · Family Resources

Map the trips before
you pick the campus

Some campuses come with a free city bus pass; others are a long drive from the nearest airport. Rate each college on the trips you will make every week and every break, enter the yearly transit or parking cost and a round trip home, and see what getting around really costs.

Start a comparisonWhat you get

Comparisons

The worked example is made up: a city, a small town and a suburban college for a student without a car who counts local transit and night safety as must-haves. Use initials or a code.

Loading the comparison form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

College · Family ResourcesFree

What you finish with
A saved comparison per decision: how much local transit, trips home, car rules, walking and biking and night safety matter; each college rated 1 to 5 with its yearly transit or parking cost and a round trip home; seven questions such as an included transit pass and a safety escort marked answered or still to ask; and a next step. The flags rank the colleges, add three round trips home to the transit or parking cost for a yearly figure and flag a must-have rated 2 or lower. A side-by-side table prints.
Who it is for
High school students comparing colleges, especially those without a car or far from home, and the families who will pay for trips home.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per decision. Prints a side-by-side table with the scores, the full record, every comparison in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Family Resources space in Caveat College.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. List the trips you will make.
  2. Enter transit or parking and a trip home.
  3. Weigh transit and night safety.
  4. Rate each college.
  5. Print the side-by-side table.

Start a comparison

Trips a college student makes

Four kinds of trips to plan1Every dayClasses, dining, work: walk,bike or shuttle.2Every weekGroceries, a job off campus,errands.3Late at nightLibrary, labs, events:shuttles and escorts.4Every breakHome and back, often at thebusiest times.Four kinds of trips to plan1Every dayClasses, dining, work: walk, bike orshuttle.2Every weekGroceries, a job off campus, errands.3Late at nightLibrary, labs, events: shuttles andescorts.4Every breakHome and back, often at the busiesttimes.
The yearly figure in the flags assumes three round trips home, such as Thanksgiving, winter break and spring break.

Ask about the free pass

Many colleges include a city transit pass in student fees, which can make a car unnecessary. Others charge hundreds of dollars a year to park, and some do not let first-year students bring a car at all. Ask both questions before you count on either.

Travel is in the budget

Federal Student Aid lists transportation as part of a college's cost of attendance, the budget used to set financial aid. A college far from home may set a higher travel allowance; ask how it is figured.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. Cost of attendance (budget), including transportation (studentaid.gov).
  2. U.S. Department of Education. Campus safety and the Clery Act annual security report (ed.gov).
  3. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Pedestrian safety and bicycle safety (nhtsa.gov).
  4. Common Data Set Initiative. Common Data Set, section G: annual expenses, transportation (commondataset.org).

The worked example, its colleges and its prices are made up. The yearly figure assumes three round trips home. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.