The leap from high school to college is a large one. Many students enter post-secondary
education expecting the experience to be the same as the one they had while at secondary school.
These students are wrong to make this assumption, and they very quickly realize just how
different college is. College costs more, presents more academic challenges, and offers a more
social environment than high school.
First, in terms of cost, college is more expensive than high school because of tuition,
living expenses, and books. Anyone who wishes to attend college must pay fees, whereas it is
free to attend high school. College tuition can start at roughly $1,500 per term and can wind up
costing as much as $2,000. The government funds high schools, so high school students do not
have to pay for their education. In addition to tuition, college students must also worry about the
residence or rental costs for living close to the college’s campus. In Toronto, rental costs for a
basement apartment can range from $400 to $600 per month (not including utilities), and
residence fees at most colleges work out to roughly $2,000 per term. In contrast, high school
students have no living expenses because the majority of high school students live at home with
their parents for free. College is also more expensive than high school when it comes to the cost
of learning materials, such as textbooks. In college, students must buy textbooks for each course
they take. These books are not cheap, and they often wind up costing students several hundreds
of dollars once students have purchased the books for all their classes. High school students
never have to worry about buying their textbooks because high schools always keep a set of
books, which students use and then return at the end of the year. Not only do college students
have to pay more money than high school students for their education, the college students also
have much more work to do once their...