Here’s how much parents are paying for their kids to graduate high school

Karman Jacobo’s son Kayden graduated from Cobb County’s Kell High School on Friday, capping off an exciting but stressful time for the family.

He was one of thousands of graduates in Georgia who walked across a stage this month in a cap and gown — a rite of passage that comes with a hefty bill, even for public school students.

Jacobo estimates that she spent well over $1,000 on senior year traditions for her 18-year-old son.

By her count, she spent $100 for his senior pictures, $80 for the yearbook, $300 to put an ad in the yearbook celebrating him, $90 for prom tickets, then $200 for a suit, $150 for a hotel room to get ready at The Battery (where the prom was being held) and $500 for a photo package. There was also the $120 for extras for the senior football players and $100 for cap and gown and a tassel. Graduation tickets are free, but it’s $10 for parking.

Karman Jacobo and her son, Kayden, pose for a picture during his graduation season in 2026. She said the cost of senior traditions -- everything from yearbooks to prom to caps and gowns -- quickly added up. (Photo courtesy Karman Jacobo)

This doesn’t include the cost of visiting colleges around the country, the extra senior photos she took after it was too costly to buy any of the photos from the school’s vendor, or the graduation party they’re having this weekend.

Of course, it’s not all mandatory — but how was Jacobo going to skip out on celebrating her son, who graduated with a technical certificate at the same time as his high school diploma and earned a football scholarship to Ottawa College in Kansas?

“I feel like he put in the work — there’s no way you’re not going to get celebrated or not going to do these things because of money,” she said. And there was a bit of social pressure: “I feel like in the area that I live in, you kind of have to do it.”

Thankfully, Kayden wasn’t really interested in a class ring.

Just as the prices for food have gone up in recent years, so has the cost of raising a child.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated about a decade ago that a middle-income, two-parent household would spend $233,000 raising a child born in 2015 — not including the cost of college. In 2026, Lending Tree estimated that the cost now tops $300,000.

Georgia was one of the cheapest states in the country to raise children at a projected $222,000 over 18 years, per Lending Tree. But parents here are still feeling stress near the finish line.

Tema Thomas’ twins are graduating from Utopian Academy for the Arts, a charter school in Clayton County. Their senior dues were $450 a piece. It included the cap and gown and prom tickets, but not the yearbook. She worked extra hours driving ride shares and delivery services to cover the cost.

“It’s exciting … those are my babies,” Thomas said. “(But) it wasn’t a really good experience.”

In Atlanta, Stephanie Taylor Warner was shocked to find out that her son, a senior at Maynard Jackson High, would need to pay $365 in senior dues.

The fee covered graduation costs and a yearbook, she said, but not things like senior photos, prom, the cost of International Baccalaureate exams or a graduation chord for the Beta Club.

“They do clearly state if you have problems with resources reach out and let (the school) know,” she said. But still: “Isn’t that ridiculous?”