This calculator was designed to help students better estimate the cost of attending California State University, Northridge. On a campus like ours where many students commute in daily to take courses, and the cost of fuel has risen dramatically, so to has the cost of going to college.
Carpooling is a good means to avoid incurring a signficant fuel cost. Online courses may help as well, especially if you are a great distance and commuting time removes you from otherwise productive work, like a part-time or full-time job. This latter cost is your opportunity cost. It's always worth considering how much your time is worth, in addition to the costs associated with fueling your car.
In the future, we'll add a carbon footprint, so you can begin to estimate the external costs of commuting...you don't pay, but everyone else does.
Steps: If you don't alredy know how far you commute one way to campus, use the Google Map function embedded below to figure it out. Type in the address from which you commute and the map will calculate the distance you must drive, plus estimate the time it will take. Make a note of this information and place it in the appropriate response box below.
Map
Instructions: Click once on the icon below. A dialog bubble will open. Click on the To here link in the bubble. Enter your street address and click on the Go button. A a new window will launch, providing you with turn-by-turn directions to campus, plus an estimate of the distance you and the time it will take. Enter the distance in step 1 below and the time in step 6 below.
Enter data that matches your commuting situation. Press tab after you enter each data item. When you have come to step 9, click the "calculate button".
If you make a mistake or want to change a value, make sure to re-enter the values from the top and press tab to move through the subsequent boxes. This calculator works only in a sequential fashion, so you must complete (or redo) the first calculations first, or subsequent calculations will produce errors. Clear the data by clicking the button below.
Some Concluding Remarks:
California State University, Northridge does what it can to reduce the cost of attendance for students, including offering a wide selection of online classes for those who cannot afford the time or the money associated with commuting. This calculator may help you make the decision.
Technical Considerations :
There are a number of assumptions built into this model. First we assume that you would not be commuting at all if you were not commuting to school. Second, this calculator does not factor in other, sometimes significant costs associated with driving, such as insurance, car payments, maintenance, parking fees, etc. Feel free to include those costs as you see fit. Third, we assume that you would be doing something productive, perhaps even making money at a job if you were not commuting to campus, so if you don't see yourself working during those hours or minutes you spend commuting to school, then feel free to place zero in the "Wage per hour" box. We also did not factor in other considerations such as taxes, licenses, etc. that you may find appropriate.
Thanks to http://www.texaswebdevelopers.com/ for providing some javascript ideas for this calculator.
