Cost of living (student)

Cost of living for a student is the total of all non-tuition expenses incurred during a course of study — accommodation, food, transport, course materials, phone, utilities, and the small daily costs that don’t fit a single category.

For most students it is larger than the tuition figure on the prospectus, and it grows year over year with general inflation.

The major categories

A typical breakdown looks roughly like this, with proportions varying by city and lifestyle:

• Accommodation (40–55%) — rent or share of household costs, the single biggest line for almost every student
• Food (15–25%) — groceries plus eating out
• Transport (5–15%) — public transport pass, occasional rideshare, sometimes a vehicle
• Phone, utilities, subscriptions (5–10%) — recurring services
• Course materials (3–8%) — textbooks, lab fees, online subscriptions
• Personal and entertainment (5–15%) — clothing, social spending, hobbies

Add a contingency for irregular costs (Christmas, birthdays, replacement items) and you have a working monthly budget.

Why it matters

Cost of living drives most of the funding decisions a student faces. The figure determines how much needs to come from part-time work, family, scholarships, or borrowing — and small differences compound over a multi-year course.

A $200-per-month difference in living costs across a four-year course is nearly $10,000 over the program before any tuition inflation adjustments. The same $10,000, financed by a student loan at 6%, costs significantly more by the time it’s repaid.

Tracking cost of living also surfaces lifestyle inflation early. Spending tends to rise quietly term over term unless a budget keeps it visible.

The cost of education calculator projects living costs across all your study years with separate inflation assumptions. The student budget calculator breaks the monthly figure into the categories above and surfaces the implied savings rate.