A degree may be the most significant thing you receive from your college, but at the University of Tampa, students get more than just a four-year education. Any graduate can hold their wedding reception in one of the school's three ballrooms (originally built as part of a luxury hotel) at no cost. Not every college has perks this lucrative, but as admissions becomes even more competitive (for both the applicants and the schools),these little extras sometimes make the difference between an accepted applicant who matriculates and one who doesn't. Check out some of the special benefits students enjoy at the following schools:

• Free (or discounted) transportation: Eco-friendly University of New England lets its freshmen choose between a $480 Gary Tiburon bicycle or a Zipcar gift card loaded with 28 hours of driving. Stanford University offers students $282 through its Commute Club for carpooling, public transportation, and biking. Students also receive $96 in Zipcar credit.

• Free laptops: At Wake Forest and Villanova University, students are given a free laptop when they enter as freshmen and it is replaced junior year by a new laptop that they can keep after they graduate.

• Free vacations: Cottey College, a two-year, liberal arts women's college, offers an all-expenses paid spring break trip to Europe for the senior class (in addition to free maid service and five-star cuisine for all its students).

• Maid service: Stereotypes of rotting take-out containers under unmade beds don't exist at George Washington University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, or Xavier University. These schools give their students complimentary maid service to keep on-campus rooms shiny and clean.
  

• Laundry service: At Davidson, students get their clothes picked up, washed, dried, pressed, hung, and dropped off free of charge. (Dry cleaning is extra, though!) Belmont University, Bryn Mawr College, and Xavier also offer free self-service washers and dryers so students don't have to worry about making change for the machine.
  

• Cheap recreation: For a $20 annual membership in the golf club, recreational golfers can rent equipment and use the private facilities at Syracuse University. At Stanford University, students only pay $25 a round (normally $110 a round for guests) at the school's famed golf course. Michigan Technological University also owns a ski slope where students can rip it up for free without having to pay for lift tickets.