Opportunity Cost
The Economic Cost of a year of college

U. B. Forte is considering the option of continuing her education. She recently graduated from high school and has been accepted to RIU.  She has also received a good job offer.  You are to determine for her the cost of a year at RIU degree. The facts you have are outlined below.

• starting salary for her job is $20,000 per year.
• monthly costs for rent, food, and recreation, if she takes the job and gets an apartment, are currently $700, $300, and $200.
• tuition, room and board, fees, and book expenses are $2,200 per semester.  Recreation costs will be $300 per month spread over the twelve months of the year if she goes to RIU.
• U. B. will earn $6,000 a year in a part-time job at RIU.

Your task is to determine the first-year cost of her decision to enroll at RIU. Once you have thought about the cost and come up with a number, I suggest you check out the following framework.  It is the framework economists would use to calculate the economic cost of a year at RIU.