Room and board versus rent, utilities, and groceries. See which costs less.
This calculator compares the annual cost of on-campus room and board against off-campus rent, utilities, and food over your school year.
The tool takes your on-campus room and board as a single yearly figure and stacks it against the off-campus side, where rent, utilities and internet, and groceries are entered monthly and multiplied by the number of months you live there. Because many leases run 12 months while on-campus housing often covers only the academic term, the months per year input matters a lot. Setting it to 9 or 10 reflects a school-year lease, while 12 captures a full annual lease you cannot escape over summer.
The output shows total off-campus cost for the period next to the on-campus figure, so you can see which is cheaper and by how much. On-campus plans usually bundle a meal plan, so compare that against your real grocery habits rather than a bare-minimum estimate. This is a budgeting estimate only and does not include one-time costs like furniture, a security deposit, renter's insurance, or commuting, which can shift the answer.
No, transportation to and from campus is not included, so add gas, parking, or transit passes separately if you live off campus and commute.
Off-campus rent is often owed for all 12 months, while on-campus housing may only cover the academic year, so choosing 9 versus 12 months can swing the comparison significantly.
On-campus room and board typically bundles a meal plan, so compare it against your realistic off-campus grocery spending rather than the cheapest possible food budget.
See the exact formula and a worked example on our methodology page.