It always feels good when you can save money as a student. The feeling is even better when you can save money, learn a sport and get fit all at the same time.
If you are a Skyline student and you have a gym membership to say 24 Hour Fitness, or are paying for private golf or tennis lessons, guess what? You are most likely not taking advantage of some of the great fitness/sports courses Skyline College offers its students.
Skyline College offers a wide array of fitness classes to students that go the school. The nice thing about the fitness classes we have at Skyline is most of them are one unit each. This means at $46 a unit you could potentially be saving loads of money.
For example in the Fall 2013 semester, there will be a tennis class offered on Monday and Wednesday for roughly a little over one hour each day. This class is taught by Michael Fitzgerald who is a “Professional one” with the United States Professional Tennis Association. “Professional one” is the highest rank offered by the USPTA, “which is the oldest and largest association of tennis-teaching professionals, with over 15,000 members” according to their website. So you are being taught by a pro, with the only difference between his private lessons and the class being the amount of students.
“I generally get around $50 to $60 an hour for a private lesson. I teach the exact same things here at Skyline on an hourly basis, that I do on my private lessons. Now admittedly they have more people in class, but the information that I cover is exactly what I would cover for $60 an hour.” said Michael Fitzgerald a Kinesiology/Athletic professor at Skyline College
Doing the math, the Fall semester is around 18 weeks. Taking the tennis class on Monday and Wednesday would mean you get around 36 one-hour lessons throughout the semester in a class with other students for around $46. As opposed to taking 36 private lessons at say $60, which is around what Fitzgerald would charge for one hour of private lessons. Added up, you would be paying around $2,160 for private lessons. Taking the tennis class at Skyline instead of taking private lessons garners some serious savings for students.
For those students who have gym memberships at say 24 Hour Fitness, the normal monthly rate is around $24.99 a month. Next Fall’s semester at Skyline College is around roughly five months. A five months membership to 24 Hour Fitness would cost around $124.95. But taking a Monday, Wednesday, Friday Body Conditioning class, and a Tuesday, Thursday yoga class which are both one unit each would cost you $92. You are saving around $32 dollars and if you have any other classes at Skyline on those days, you are saving on the commute, because the place you workout would also be the location of your school.
Taking fitness classes at Skyline instead of private lessons or gym memberships is one of many great ways to save money as a student. Go get your sweatpants and headband ready, because the Summer and Fall semester are right around the corner.
