学费
xuéfèi · HSK 3
tuition fee
🎓💰 学 (study) + 费 (fee) = study-fee = tuition
学 means 'to study/learn' and 费 means 'fee/expense'. Together they literally spell out 'study-fee', the cost of schooling. Same 费 appears in 车费 (fare) and 小费 (tip).
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.
费 — 弓 bow + 弗 (phonetic 'fú/fèi')
费 is a phono-semantic compound. The bottom 贝 (cowrie shell, ancient money) gives the meaning 'cost/expense,' while 弗 on top supplies the sound. Originally it referred to spending money or wasting resources, and today it means 'fee,' 'expense,' or 'to consume.'