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With another school year starting, you may be considering bringing a car to campus. It would make it convenient to get to your off-campus job or internship, and it would be nice to have for those late-night Taco Bell and fro-yo runs.

Of course, you鈥檒l have to pay for parking, insurance and gas if you have a car. And without one, you鈥檒l need to budget for the alternatives: buses, trains, cabs and ridesharing apps.

So before you decide whether to buy a campus parking pass or leave your car at home, compare the costs of each option.

The costs of having a car on campus

First things first: Check with your school鈥檚 transportation office for details about the campus parking policies. Some schools, including Syracuse University and the University of Miami, don鈥檛 allow freshmen to bring cars.

If you get the go-ahead to bring a vehicle, here are some costs to prepare yourself for:

• Parking fees:聽Many colleges require students to have a pass in order to park on campus. The passes can cost hundreds of dollars per semester, depending on your school and the location of your designated lot. On top of that, there can be replacement fees if you lose your pass, plus parking tickets, which you鈥檙e bound to get at least once.

• Insurance:聽Generally, if you鈥檙e bringing your car to a school more than 100 miles from home, you need to notify your insurer. And if you鈥檙e bringing your car to an out-of-state school, you may need to adjust your insurance policy because auto insurance requirements vary by state. Depending on where you鈥檙e heading, the price of your policy could go up or down. You could end up saving money by switching to a new insurer, so聽聽to make sure you鈥檙e getting the best deal.

• Gas:聽Your gas costs will depend on how much you use your car. To offset them a bit, ask your friends to pitch in a few bucks if you find that you鈥檙e becoming the go-to driver in the group.

The costs of not having a car on campus

Leaving your car at home is not without its costs. Here are some expenses to expect:

• Public transportation passes, cab fares and ridesharing apps:聽If a bus or subway is a convenient way to get around your campus or college town, look into prices for a monthly or annual pass. You may get lucky 鈥斅爏tudents at the University of Michigan, for example, can ride city buses for free. And for a safe ride home after a night out, call a cab or book an Uber. If you plan to rely on this option regularly, budget for it; ridesharing apps especially can get pricey during peak hours.

• Insurance:聽Even if you don鈥檛 bring a car to college, your parents will need to keep insurance on it. They may be able to get a discount on the policy since you won鈥檛 be driving regularly. Ask your insurer whether it offers a 鈥渟tudent-away-at-school鈥� discount. Companies including Liberty Mutual, State Farm and Travelers do.

• Transportation home:聽Depending on how far you live from campus, you鈥檒l need to figure out a way to get home for weekend visits and holiday breaks. Whether that鈥檚 chipping in $20 bucks for gas to catch a ride with a friend or booking a plane ticket, don鈥檛 forget to account for this cost when you鈥檙e doing the math.

Take 10 minutes to sit down, open your phone鈥檚 calculator app and do a rough calculation of what it would cost you to bring your car to college or leave it at home. There鈥檚 no wrong answer, as long as you make an informed decision.

Teddy Nykiel is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email:聽teddy@nerdwallet.com. Twitter:聽.

This article was written by and was originally published by聽.