Stat of the Day

Prom Now Costs Around $807 Per Family

Flickr/Natalie Pacheco
Caitlin Dickson 486 Views Jun 17, 2011

Prom is not for everyone. As long as its been a tradition for teenagers to get dressed up, ride around in limos, dance to cheesy love songs and get inappropriately drunk, it has also been a tradition for those too cool for school to protest this once-in-a-high-school-lifetime event. But now, the most apathetic of high schoolers might not be able to afford to go to prom even if they wanted to. A new Visa survey reveals that prom cost the average family of a prom-age teen around $807 this year. With tickets to the dance alone running up to $150, not to mention the appropriate attire, transportation, dinner and after party plans, one quarter of American families had to tell their teenager they couldn't go to prom this year, CNN Money reports.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at cdickson at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Related Articles   More by Caitlin Dickson

So Much for Funemployment

Consumer Spending Is Back: Good News, Right?

Record Corporate Profits Quickly Claimed for Political Debates

 

178 Atlanta District Teachers and 38 Principals Helped Students Cheat

Twitter Townhall Not Going as Planned?

Elsewhere on the Web

User Comments

Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App