A
At the beginning of the new term，freshmen(大学一年级新生)of Ningbo Institute of Technology at Zhejiang University received a letter from the school saying that parents should give their children 600 yuan each month to cover basic expenses．But freshmen don’t think it is a good idea．
“I know universities want to encourage us to save money．But 600 yuan is far from enough，”said Ma Yuhan，a freshman at Hubei University of Medicine．The 21-year-old spends 1，500 to 2，000 yuan every month，of which more than 1,000 yuan is spent on food．“I may starve(饥饿) to death if my parents only give me 600 yuan，”he said．
Basic expenses
According to Ying Zhongyuan，Secretary(秘书) of the Youth League Committee at Ningbo Institute of Technology，a student’s basic expenses are made up of four parts：food，communication，electricity and water bills，and things for daily use．
“The standard we set is based on our university’s specific situation and food plays big role．The average(平均) cost for three meals is 15 yuan，so that’s about 450 yuan per month．The remaining 150 yuan should be enough to cover all other expenses considering that everything is quite cheap on campus(大学校园)，”Ying said．
Social cost
Shen Jiawei，21，is another freshman at Hangzhou Normal University．He spends all of his pocket money on meals．He said socializing causes high expenses．Before Shen went to university，his parents told him that they would give him 1，000 yuan each month．But after the first semester，Shen found that 1,000 yuan is not enough．
“I made many friends and we hang out together a lot．It costs 700 yuan to eat in the cafeteria each month，but much more if eating out，”he said．“Now my monthly expenses are about 1,500 yuan，”he said．
Wu Luping，a member of the China Youth ＆ Children Research Association，believes that such an expense is reasonable．When interviewed by Beijing Morning Post，he said，“There are three layers(层次) of expenses，basic needs，development，and entertainment．”Apart from basic costs，students want to spend money on interpersonal(人际的) relationships and entertainment．“There’s no need to avoid such expenses，”he said．