$1155 AVERAGE COST FOR FAMILY

A committee from the Graduate Schools Society of Phillips Brooks House has made an investigation of the cost of living of married graduate students for the benefit of men with families who intend to enter the University. Thirty-five replies were received out of sixty men to whom lists of questions were sent. With only three exceptions, each student considered that he was living at a minimum cost.

Of the thirty-five families replying, twenty-eight lived in unfurnished apartments. The average cost of rent, light, and heat for these was $31 per month, and the average number of rooms to a family was five. Five families did so-called "light-housekeeping," i.e., lived in two or three furnished rooms in private houses fitted up adequately for house-keeping. The average rental for such apartments was $21 a month. Two families of two each boarded at a total cost for board and rooms of $500 for the college year in both cases.

Average for 28 Families.

The following averages were compiled from the replies of twenty-eight families. In the cases of the remaining seven families, the judgment of the committee was that there existed exceptional circumstances that made their living expenses unusual. The University expenses, which include tuition, books, and fees, amounted to $180. The average cost of rent, light, and heat was $290, with $528 for the highest and $160 for the lowest. The average amount paid for food was $254, the highest being $480 and the lowest $150. The total for necessities, which includes the above items and such things as laundry, carfare, medical services, and help, averaged $808, with a maximum of $1565 and a minimum of $528. The total living cost for ten months exclusive of railroad fare averaged $1155, the highest being $2000 and the lowest $500.