COST OF ATTENDANCE BUDGETS
When students use federal financial aid to help cover their educational costs, the federal Department of Education requires schools to use a formula to determine what types of financial aid the student is eligible to receive.
Part of this formula is using a cost of attendance budget to determine the maximum amount of financial aid a student can receive each academic year. This budget includes direct school costs like tuition, fees and books. It also includes indirect costs that the student may have while they attend school. This includes things like housing and transportation. The school develops a standard cost of attendance budget for these purposes using actual tuition and fees each year and average estimated amounts for the indirect costs.
The specific components included in our COA (Cost of Attendance) budgets include:
· Tuition and fees
· Books, course materials, supplies and equipment
· Federal Direct Loan Program origination fees and insurance costs*
· Living expenses (housing and food)
· Transportation
· Personal expenses
· Other miscellaneous costs such as professional licensing fees when applicable
*These costs are excluded if the student does not borrow any funds from the student loan programs.
Note that the amounts in the budget can vary depending on the student’s enrollment status, program of study, and dependency status. If you have questions about this or you would like to see the COA budget for a specific program of study that would apply to you, please contact the Financial Aid department.