So, you’re a high school senior finishing up your last year getting ready to move on into the real world. But you have endless responsibilities that take up your time like college, a career, moving out, all shoved in your face. But of course, the biggest issue is money.

John Adams, a founding father of the United States said “The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and must be willing to bear the expenses of it…not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves.”

But times have changed. Now, today’s students, including Morgan’s 137 graduating seniors, are being asked to spend more and more money to experience their senior year. To learn about these hidden costs, Pawprint investigates senior expenses to learn how much they’re spending without knowing and how the school helps carry the financial burden.

Senior Trip: $70

What are some well known trips of the past (ask teachers who went here). What about the senior trip where everyone misses school to enjoy a day trip with their class? In many past years it has been to go to Six Flags or Brownstone. This year it is Six Flags again with a projected price of $60-$70.

Everybody is getting a yearbook, people want that memorabilia too, bam there’s another $75 less to the students name.

Yearbook: $75

Yearbooks are huge, and people want to remember the good old days of high school, right? Yearbooks come out this year on May 27th. On senior awards night, everybody is running around signing each others’ before graduating, no one wants to be the one person there without one.

“I think FOMO (fear of missing out) and tradition are a major influence on what you do as a senior. Do I think that yearbooks and class traditions were pushed? Yes,” said Chloe Allen, a Morgan graduate from the class of 2025 who believes in participating in school events for the memory and tradition.

The fear of missing out or “FOMO” is a big pressure that is pushed on students by the school to get a yearbook, whether it’s the advertisements in the weekly news blast, or the banner in the hallway that people pass multiple times a day. Even if someone gives in and wants to indulge in the senior tradition they still need a lot of money.

Something that isn’t well known among the students however is that the school still helps students without disposable income.

“So, I know that I work really closely with our counseling office and the office staff so that every senior that graduates, no matter what their financial status was, if they want to have a yearbook, we make sure that we have that accounted for,” said Shannon Robinson, the manager for Morgan’s yearbook.

Cap and Gowns: $40

Cap and gowns are required to walk during graduation and cost roughly $40 according to Casey Metz, the administration assistant in charge of cap and gown fees. That’s not too much, but still it can still sneak up on someone especially since they need it to walk. But the school doesn’t completely leave students to pick up the bill in this case either.

“So we give assistance if it’s ever a financial issue. Like if there’s a financial need, we have student assistance that can help with that. So we always will provide a cap and gown,” said Casey Metz

While many students do buy an additional outfit for graduation and that is another expense it is optional.

“I mean it’s pretty optional, you could wear whatever you want to graduation…I think my dress was around $50…but that was a personal choice,” said Chloe Allen

Even though there are hidden costs for high school, when put into perspective, many students don’t find it to be too much of an expense.

That’s not to say you can still skip some events to save some cash. “There is some level of peer pressure to attend, but I know that some people are not attending certain events, and I feel like the costs this year are not too bad,” said Owen Lombardi, a current senior at Morgan.

High school is full of hidden or extra costs that one might not typically realize until senior year and the fear of missing out is a brutal incentive to just drop, however it’s good to see that the school does offer assistance where it’s needed so even if money is tight for a senior they aren’t excluded.

“There were not many super unexpected expenses as we all knew we were going to have to pay,” said Chloe Allen