Pomp and Expenditures

The Price of Graduation

It’s June, and for many families, it is time to prepare for graduation. Last week, one of my co-workers was talking about going shopping with her son to select an outfit. Since I graduated from high school 42 years ago, I can barely remember the ceremony and I have no idea how much it cost. I sent a message to the public relations person at my alma mater, Canon-McMillan Senior High School in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, to see if any records were kept of the expenses of the 1970s. I was surprised that the school district even had a public relations person. I’m sure there was no such position when I matriculated.

While I waited for intel from the land of the fighting Big Macs, I asked several of my friends about the costs associated with their soon-to-be-graduates.

DC Suburbs

I have one friend who shared both my high school and college graduations. This month, she is celebrating the high school graduation of her daughter from a school in the Washington, DC, suburbs. When I asked her about graduation costs, she gave me a quick rundown:

• Yearbook: $85 (discounted price for buying early)
• Cap and gown: $40
• Senior banquet: $35
• Senior banquet dress: $75

Her daughter is still looking for the perfect dress to wear under her cap and gown, but my friend estimates that it will cost her between $50 and $100. There is also a graduation bus trip to downtown DC, which costs $60. An optional trip involves going to Ocean City, Maryland, for Beach Week, which will set my friend back $800 to $1,000. I forgot to ask about a party, but maybe Beach Week will be party enough.

Since I wasn’t asked to my Senior Prom, I didn’t want to dredge up long-dormant memories, but my friend also gave me the price of a prom in the DC area. The prom ticket was $65, the prom party bus was $65 per student, and her daughter’s prom dress was $600.

I’m trying to imagine the monetary equivalent to a $600 prom gown in 1974. I’m sure that if I had asked my father for prom gown money, the most I would have been handed was $50.

Bay Area

The daughter of a friend of mine in the San Francisco Bay Area spent $25 on a graduation dress that she ordered online. My Bay Area friend’s daughter decided that she didn’t want to participate in the graduation money-go-round. She didn’t want a party, didn’t get announcements, and even eschewed getting a yearbook. She is going to spend her graduation evening going out to dinner with her family.

I wish I could have been that thrifty. But even though I was a nerd with few friends, I wanted the whole graduation package. I still have my high school yearbook, the only remaining vestige, besides my diploma, of that period of my life. Those yearbook photos came in handy when I went to my 35th high school reunion: seeing those pictures on their name badges was the only way I could identify all of the old people that were there. I missed my 40th reunion two years ago and I doubt that I will go to the 45th reunion. Why should I spend hundreds of dollars to fly thousands of miles to see three people that I know? I hung out with the crowd that chose study hall over pep rallies. Not exactly the target group for reunion planners.

Sacramento, CA

My co-worker went to the mall with her oldest son to buy a shirt, tie and suspenders to complete his graduation outfit, at a cost of $100. His haircut cost $35, invitations were $18 and his cap and gown were $99.82. She is anticipating spending around $700 on his graduation party.

Last year, she went over budget when her oldest daughter graduated, so she is trying to be a little less extravagant this year.

Since I didn’t hear back from my high school (I’m sure that at graduation time, aging alumni aren’t a priority), I decided to look in my 1974 diary to see if I mentioned any graduation expenses.

I paid for my yearbook on December 3, 1973. I paid for my cap and gown on January 7, 1974. I got my senior pictures on January 12, and I got my graduation announcements on April 18. The Senior Party that I wasn’t allowed to attend was April 19 and the Prom I wasn’t invited to was May 10. Being a spoiled teenager, I didn’t feel the need to document the prices of these expenditures for future review.

A week before graduation, my father gave me $100 as a present and his best friend’s wife bought me a dress. Even though I have no photos from May 30, 1974, I still remember that dress. It was a halter dress with a green with white polka-dots top and a white bottom, with a matching white jacket with green trim. I’m sure that it was 100% polyester because it was the ’70s and I shopped at Lerner’s, which sold only polyester. Everyone I knew shopped at Lerner’s, which is how my cousin ended up wearing the same dress as me. I don’t remember the price, but I’m sure it wasn’t over $25.

While my graduation costs probably weren’t too prohibitive, I can’t imagine the money spent over the years by parents with multiple children. I never saw any senior party, prom, or class picnic photos from my classmates, but graduates today can track every move of their celebrating classmates, which probably makes it harder to be excluded due to cost. But some schools have instituted free events for graduates, being aware that not all parents have the disposable income to fund these activities. A day that a child will remember forever should not be an expense that takes parents months to recover from financially.

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