Final Year Biling: Expectations, Reality, and How to Navigate the Cost of Living
A break down of what actually drains your account in final year—and how to stay ahead of it before it hits.
At this point in the semester, there’s no way you haven’t heard a final year student or two speak on the account-emptying cost that comes with simply being in your final year. For specificity, we’ll focus on home, at APSUL, but on a grander scale, this is a topic most familiar across departments.
To be fair, up until I actually got into final year, I used to think the billing couldn’t possibly be that notable. I was wrong, but you don’t have to be (which is where this piece comes in). Here, I’ll be directing the reality behind the added costs of being in your final year and dropping tips for navigating this crucial point of your academic journey at the same time. Let’s get into it.
Final year billing: Expectations
In total, 300k max was what I thought I’d spend—and that’d even be in a worst-case scenario. After all, it’s a B.Sc. I’m trying to get, and based on what I’d heard, the general cost wouldn’t be half as expensive as getting a master’s degree, which was around a million at the time.
Yes, I know now that it sounds outrageous, but my thought process then was: project-150k, dues and extra fees-100k, miscellaneous-50k. If you look at it objectively, this bill might’ve actually worked in 2022, which was when I was drawing it, so don’t judge just yet.
Final year billing: Reality
While I can’t disclose an exact figure (due to variations in project costs, prep for seminars, and prep for several final year events), it’s safe to say that I was way in over my head with that 300k budget.
For starters, I had very little information about the things that would incur costs in my final year. Aside from Project and dues, there are the YBC Dues, project analysis (the part of the whole thing that actually costs the most money), and an anticipated final year payment on the portal.
Add that to the costs of prepping for seminars, printing and spiral binding several reports, prepping for symposium, thanksgiving, and defense, among other events, and then printing your project report.
The second thing was that the Nigerian economy took a plunge within the past few years. As a result, we’ve had several pricing reviews across the board (fees and whatnot). So there was simply no way.
How to navigate the YBC cost
The fact that it is expensive doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy your final year in full swing. All you have to do is prepare ahead, and you should be fine. Now that you know the technicality behind it, let’s get you up to speed with surviving the season of billing:
Start saving
If you’re reading this post and you haven’t started saving already, you’re a bit behind. There are a lot of payments to be made, and frankly, no amount is too much or too little to be saved.
Just open an account somewhere and start adding the money to it from today. It will save you more than you can imagine.
Spend wisely
I’ll be real; I can’t tell you how to and how not to spend your money. But, coming from a friend, it’s probably a good idea to have a clear vision of your spending, especially towards the final year and all its events.
For the 300-level class, it’s important to select your Symposium colours fast so people can make plans ahead, get ready, and save themselves extra cost. I know that suits last year were still selling for around 45- 60k, and now, they’re going for 80k and up (with no limit).
Don’t pick fights
This one sounds out of pocket, but I’ll be funny if I don’t mention how much help people are going to be to you in your final year. If you go around picking fights, you might just chase your destiny helper away without knowing it.
In all, preparation is actually key, and it’s never too early to start getting ready, because it’s unavoidable. Yes, you can choose not to participate in YBC events, but you can’t avoid your project, or defense, or seminars, so it’s important that you’re informed and prepared so you don’t stumble into the jamboree like some of us did. Goodluck!
Chronic Events
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In The Lab
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