Should College Students Own Cars?
Auto insurance rates, parking, and other considerations
Mar 8, 2007
Should a college student own a car? Is the hassle of student parking and the expense of auto insurance worth it? Are there good alternatives to buying a car, such as a reliable public transportation system or biking trails?
Whether a student ought to have a car depends on his or her personal financial situation, as well as the transportation situation on campus. Here are some questions for college students to ask before investing in an automobile.
How much will the car cost? This may be the most important factor. If you can do without a car in college, you can almost certainly save a good deal of money and reduce your debt. For starters, cheap car insurance for students can be very hard to come by, especially for young men, and especially if you live in a college town or urban area. Before buying a car, make a realistic assessment of your expenses, which will include:
- Auto insurance
- Registration
- Gas
- Routine maintenance
- Emergency maintenance
- Car payments, if applicable
- Parking expenses and parking ticket fees
How big of a hassle is parking? On some campuses, student parking is readily available and inexpensive. On other campuses, this is not the case at all! Investigate the situation before you make a decision.
How big of a hassle is traffic? I f you're going to school in a sleepy little town, traffic may not be an issue. But if your school is in a busy urban setting, it may be much less stressful and time consuming to rely on public transportation. Keep driving conditions in mind as well; if you live in an area with regular snowstorms, a bus might be a safer and less stressful alternative.
What's the public transportation situation like? Investigate this carefully. Some schools go out of their way to make affordable, reliable public transportation available to students, and in some places you can get around very easily without a car. In other places, public transportation can be expensive, unreliable, unsafe, and perhaps nonexistent.
Is biking or walking an option? There's no better way to work exercise into your busy schedule than by walking or biking to school! Some college towns offer reliable bike path systems and have plenty of housing in walking distance of campus. However, if you go to school in a high crime area or in an area with terrible weather, these might not be realistic options.
Will you need to leave campus often? If you go home often, have a job far away from campus, or have some other reason to leave campus frequently, a car might be a necessity for you. You might also just want the freedom to leave when needed. If you go to school in a small town with no way out other than a car, the expense and hassle might be worth it to you.
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