Prospective Students often have a lot of questions about the educational system, living, expenses and life in general. Often, the best source for answers they have is students, like me, who are, or have pursuied Master's in States. This gist will be helpful to get answers to what people have frequently asked me about. If you have any more questions / anything to add, please do leave a comment, I'll update the gist accordingly. I am studying Master's in Computer Science at Georgia Tech, so I will share specific details about that program / institute.
It varies heavily with the institute. On a general note, public universities are cheaper than their private counterparts, quite obvious, although exceptions might be there. The most cost effective university I know is that of UT Austin (< 10,000$ / semester). The highest can go a bit out of hand. CMU, for example has it around $20K - Tution Fee Details. The tution for Georgia Tech - (for out of state candidates) is approximately $14,000 /semester for full time enrollment.
These generally include insurance, funds for various services the institute provides. The variation is again, quite high. It's less than $2000 / semester for Georgia Tech, whereas around $10,000 / semester for CMU (from the above link). Further Details for the same, can be found out by visiting institute's finance office's webpage, which is Bursar
A lot of institutes offer Tution Waiver, if the student works as a Graduate Research Assistant / Teaching Assistant. It might be referred to as Graduate Student Researcher in some cases. Most institutes, including mine, offer complete waiver for tution fees if you hold one of the above positions. You still have to pay the other fees mentioned above though. Some institutes, might offer partial waiver. Students working as Graduate Research Assitants are expected to work with a Professor for a defined number of hours(<= 20, to maintain F1 status), and are compensated accordingly. Teaching Assistants assist with coursework development, grading etc. More details in subsequent section.
Depends on individual's lifestyle. You might live in a shared accomodation or may live in a studio apartment on your own. It also depends on the town you are looking to rent. You might find something very cheap in small towns like Urbana Champaign, Atlanta, on the other hand, is slightly expensive. If you are looking in San Francisco / NYC. Here's a nice video. Just for reference purposes, I used to pay ~$500 for a shared accomodation. Slide Note : Shared Accomodation == Shared Room
In order to maintain a full-time student status, a minimum of 12 credit requirement is present. Which effectively means 4 courses / semester at Georgia Tech. With the only exceptions being the Starting and the graduating semesters. A much more detailed handbook. A simple caluclation can tell you that you can complete a Master's program(~ 30 credits) in 3 semesters, but students usually take 4, and do a project which gives them credits to maintain F1 status, but not counts towards degree. It is a matter of individual preference.
More to be added