The semester is underway! and.. my first bill has arrived :(

fees

Most importantly, the Grad Asst Tuition pays for both the graduate tuition and CBA tuition fees for a total of $3,652.25. In addition to this (not shown above), I get monthly payments of $935.25 for my work as a TA.

Students are responsible for paying 21% of the UNL-offered health insurance premium, which amounts to $996.05 for 9 months of coverage. This works out to be about $110/month. After reviewing the student health insurance with my wife, we decided to decline it in favor of continuing on her employer-provided insurance plan. Her plan provides roughly the same benefits for ~$20 less each month.

The other fees:

  • Library Fee: $62.50
  • Facilities Fee: $602
  • Technology Fee: $110

Those fees seem a bit excessive to me. It would be helpful if they were unbundled further so that I could see exactly what I’m paying for and give me the choice to opt out of anything that has no forseeable utility.

In total, my first bill comes to $809.50 and thanks to a Grad Assist Deferment, I have until Oct 12th to pay it. My first month’s paycheck should cover all of it. So much for that paycheck.

Other expenditures on the horizon are for Actuarial Exam fees. I plan on taking Exam P at the beginning of January. That way, I will have all of winter break to study and prepare for it. I recently had a classmate tell me about Coaching Actuaries.

They offer adaptive practice exams and claim that if you earn a level of 7 or more on their scoring system, you have a 90% chance of passing the exam on the first go.

adaptive-exam

I plan on using a 30 day Adapt ($85 with their 15% student discount) for the month of December. I’ll let you know what I think of it in a future blog post :)