How Much for Your Child's HS Cap and Gown?

[MomToOne]

I just got the cost for DD17s HS graduation cap and gown this spring: $47 + $10 S/H!!!

Over $60 (tax is added) seems ridiculous for something they will wear for 2 hours. And we have to purchase - there is no rental option. But who the heck needs a graduation gown after the graduation ceremony is done???

What does your child's HS charge for cap and gown, and is it purchase or rental?

 

[tvguy]

Rental. No charge. Well, it's built into the tuition at my kids Catholic High School Same with the year book.

 

[MomToOne]

Rental. No charge. Well, it's built into the tuition at my kids Catholic High School Same with the year book.

That's part of what gets me - DDs school is public. It is a magnet school, so it draws a wide cross section of the community. My daughter says many of her friends are freaking out over the cost. We can afford it, but there are lots of families out there who need that $60 for basic expenses. I've contacted the principal because after some Googling I found High Schools in California are supposed to provide loaner caps and gowns to any student who doesn't want to buy one. But there's been no mention of that to the students. Schools in this area are just now being called on the carpet about that - I suspect her school hasn't faced the music on it yet. Instead they choose to sell the kids out to Josten's, who gives the school a kick back. The current principal is really bad in that regard - he's all about the money. He came from a middle school in the wealthiest part of town a couple of years ago, and just can't seem to shake that "make 'em pay" mentality.

And our year book is $75 but that's optional and kids can skip it if they can't afford it.

 

[CouponGirl]

If she has any friends that graduated last year, she could just borrow one.

 

[MomToOne]

OMG...I just looked up another high school in our area that also uses Josten's for cap and gowns. Their cost is only $27!! For the exact same cap, gown and tassel (even the same color). The only difference is for some reason our school feels the need to add a "stole" (another waste that no one needs). What a racket!

 

[MomToOne]

If she has any friends that graduated last year, she could just borrow one.

Her older friends were all taller (she's on the shorter side) so the gown won't fit right. And I will pay the $60 even though I don't like it because we can afford it - my concerns are really for other families that can't afford it.

They have to do group Senior projects, so I did suggest to DD that they hold a cap and gown drive as theirs. But her group had already picked a project a couple of weeks ago and it has already been approved. She's spreading the word to see if any other group still doesn't have a topic and might want to do it.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

same here 60.25 for cap & gown

year books, prices go up as the year goes on, starts around $55 and goes up to 80 by the time they come in.
Yearbook ad's on the other hand are highway robbery

 

[MomToOne]

Yearbook ad's on the other hand are highway robbery

Thankfully, her school doesn't offer the yearbook ads. It would be a "just say no" moment in our house if they did!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Your yearbooks are so cheap! I graduated 12 years ago and it was $100+

Our cap and gowns were loaned to us.

 

[MomToOne]

Your yearbooks are so cheap! I graduated 12 years ago and it was $100+

Quality has gone down - a lot. Price also depends on the number of pages, which is based on number of students. DDs school is smaller than many public high schools (about half the size of the typical California high school). I think $75 is still high for a poor quality, thin yearbook.

 

[Nina]

Cap, gown & tassel was $25 this past year.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Quality has gone down - a lot. Price also depends on the number of pages, which is based on number of students. DDs school is smaller than many public high schools (about half the size of the typical California high school). I think $75 is still high for a poor quality, thin yearbook.

Yes, this may be true. I think my class was even small for a public California high school - about 450 in my graduating class. I was on the yearbook staff and I think even with my discount it was over $100 12 years ago I don't want to imagine what the price is now with the class sizes nearing 600!

 

[runwad]

$25 for cap, gown, tassel. My girls wore the same one. I guess I'll probably have to buy a new one for my son.

Year books are $60, but honestly we only got them for senior year. It just seems the kids aren't as in to them as we were at that age. Probably because they take pictures of themselves all the time on social media so it's not a big deal to flip thru the pages and see pics with your friends.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

When I graduated high school in 2000 it was around $60 to purchase the cap and gown. After the ceremony I donated mine for students in Africa to have one.

Year books were $75 at that time but they actually have gone down in price since then because my daughter’s high school year books are only $50. Maybe I will get lucky and the cap and gown will have gone down in price as well.

 

[NinaBella]

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[minniebeth]

My DDs' HS is similar to NinaBella's post, there is a set graduation fee that all seniors must pay and it includes the cap, gown, tassel, etc.
I think it was either $70 or $75.
There is no other option, so no point in trying to buy or pass on the gown. its a shame and wasteful. What can you really do with them once they're worn?

My DS' HS on the other hand, the gowns are lent by the school and the caps and tassels were included in the cost of tuition. (Private)

It's interesting how schools do it differently.

 

[amccu18007]

$50 for ours. There was no option to rent which is terrible. I called the school and donated ours to them to give another student next year.

 

[bjscheel]

$0 last year. The senior class had money left over from prom fundraising so paid for all caps and gowns for the class.

Yearbooks are $35, but for last year's seniors they were also free as they were paid from the class fund.

 

[kymom99]

My son's was included in the fees so I don't know what we paid. Private school. Yearbooks start at $50 and go up as the year goes on. When I was in school I was on the yearbook staff. Prices depended on number of pages as well as number of colored pages. That was back when we had to draw the page layouts by hand and make crop marks on actual pictures.

I'm going to throw this out there concerning kids who can't afford the cost. Around here in public schools, we cannot exclude kids from anything based on ability to pay. If they qualify for free lunch all fees are waived. They do not have to pay for field trips if parents indicate they cannot afford the cost. I'm going to assume that if our seniors cant afford graduation costs, the schools will cover them.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

My school we paid a rental fee. This was over 5 years ago but I believe it was only $35 maybe. We used the same ones year after year. I agree, it's such a shame these schools charge so much for what you can only wear once!