Cost of Attendance (COA)
Financing a four-year college education today is a daunting experience. Public
institutional costs continue to rise and many private schools’ tuitions are inflating at a rate of 4%
a year. Regardless of whether you attend a public or private institution, families are often jolted by the realities of that expense when they read the financial aid packages that arrive with the acceptance letters. More often than not, families are not prepared for all the expenses.
Students and their families are also consumers in the academic marketplace, and all good shoppers know the value of comparison-shopping. Comparing colleges is a complex task but doing so will pay off. Comparing the costs of colleges includes looking at several major factors:
Tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, transportation, and personal expenses.
Most colleges publish a brochure that explains the typical expenses incurred by their students.
Information is also on the web at individual college financial aid office websites.
Tuition and Fees: These costs vary widely, but the basic dividing line is between the public and private schools. While private schools are more expensive, public schools are no longer the bargain they once were. The average cost of attendance (COA) for a UC school can exceed $25,000, and a CSU school can cost as much as $18,000 or more. Fees continue to rise in the California public system as less and less state money is available to support the
universities. Other factors should be taken into consideration. Because of overcrowding, often students cannot enroll in classes needed for graduation. Some students change majors once or twice, and therefore continue their attendance for upwards of six years. Finally, if you can factor in the cost of lost wages graduates might have earned for that extra one or two years, some private colleges, or out-of-state publics, begin to look more attractive. Most private colleges guarantee that graduation in four years is realistic, and it is encouraged and facilitated by faculty, deans, and administrators, even when majors are changed.
Books and Supplies: These costs do not differ much from school to school, but will vary depending on your area of study.
Room and Board: These costs can vary depending on the cost of living in any particular area. Colleges offer meal tickets with different options and pricing, and after freshman year, many students move into apartments and cook their own food. This option can save money (if you truly do cook your own food), though parents might worry if their students are eating healthily. Living at home does not necessarily cut costs as parents support their children
financially even at home and a car and parking costs are probably also incurred in this plan – the costs are simply less well-defined.
Transportation and Personal Expenses: Travel expenses may include airfare for out- of-state students or gas and a car for students who take a car to college (or live at home).
Personal expenses include entertainment, laundry, road trips, eating out, and clothing required for a colder climate. Don’t forget ski expenses for those colleges that have access to winter sports activities! Again, items such as entertainment will vary widely. Schools in urban areas may not provide and/or subsidize concerts if they are already occurring in the general area.
However, schools in small towns and rural areas do import entertainment for their students, and they subsidize the cost to make it affordable for student budgets.
Financial Aid Resources
There are many possible sources of financial aid for students. The federal government sponsors some programs and states, local cities, businesses, associations, individuals, and other private sources sponsor others.
A note about the timeline for financial aid: Please check the Document Library at Family Connection for “Financial Aid Info for Seniors.” This outline gives you a basic “to do”
list for senior fall. Do not miss deadlines!
Most students will need to seek financial assistance to meet their college expenses.
Remember this one important fact: Do not rule out any college on the basis of cost alone.
Many schools that have higher tuition costs are sometimes more able to provide aid than schools that have a lower cost. Determining who will receive aid is the job of each college financial aid office where your financial aid applications are sent. Family income alone will not predict eligibility. Other factors considered are family size, indebtedness, or educational
expenses for other family members. In the past only sibling or parent college costs were factored in the equation, but in recent years, many colleges are taking into consideration the costs of paying private school tuition for siblings. Take heart, it may not be as bad as you think
“Need” is the difference between what it costs to attend a particular college and what a student’s family can afford to pay, as determined by the college’s Financial Aid office. Need is defined differently at each college, depending on the costs of the college, their resources, and what they define as your resources. The sum that you will be expected to pay is called “Expected Family Contribution” or EFC.
Use the Financial Aid Calculator at the College Board to determine your estimated need.
See the “Fin aid calculator” link at Family Connection. Do both federal (public schools) and institutional (private schools) methodologies.
The guidelines by which college financial aid offices determine your package can vary yearly. Be sure to get updated information. Pay attention to deadlines – filing dates differ at each college and missing them can be very costly – you may not receive aid even if you are eligible.
Types of Financial Aid:
ỉ Grants or scholarships do not have to be repaid. Grants usually are awarded on the basis of need. Scholarships may be awarded on the basis of need or on some other criteria such as academic achievement, community service, citizenship, or leadership. In some cases they are awarded purely on merit without regard to financial need. If you think you do not qualify for need-based aid, you may still qualify for merit aid. Most colleges will want you to file a FAFSA and /or CSS Profile in order to award you a merit-based scholarship.
ỉ Loans must be repaid. Repayment of federally subsidized loans is deferred until after a student graduates, usually six months.
ỉ Federal work-study programs involve earning money through a job usually arranged by
college is recessed for vacation. Some colleges do not participate in work-study
programs, but they still employ students and pay them a good wage – they simply are not a part of the federal program. Do not be discouraged if a college says they do not have work-study jobs. Ask about other employment for students.
Federal Grants:
Pell Grants are distributed based on family need and education costs at the school to which you apply. The minimum and maximum amounts vary each year. You are considered for a Pell Grant when you file your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by the deadline date of March 1 of your senior year. The deadline date for some private colleges is much earlier – check individual applications.
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) supplements the Pell Grants and do not have to be repaid.
Federal Loans:
Perkins Loans are made by the college with federal money and must be repaid. These loans offer low interest rates. Repayment begins several months after you leave college (whether you graduate or not) and you have up to ten years to repay the loan.
Stafford Student Loans are based on student need and are capped at different amounts each year. In your junior and senior years you receive nearly twice as much as in your first two years of college.
PLUS loans are parent loans and you do not need to have identified need for them.
However, you do need to file the FAFSA, and therefore apply for the Pell Grant and Stafford Loan before you can apply for a PLUS loan. Loan rates vary, and some states have money set aside for parents at lower interest rates, even if you are not a resident but your child goes to a college in that state. Information about PLUS loans will be included in your financial aid package.
California State Aid:
The majority of state aid to undergraduates is need-based. There are three categories of state aid called Cal Grants A, B, and C. Please refer to the Appendix for a copy of the current income ceilings and amounts available in each of these categories. You must complete a Cal Grant GPA Verification Form to receive Cal Grant money. The GPA Verification forms are available in the Counseling Department in late December or early January. The student
completes Section B and then gives it to his or her counselor to complete Section A. There is no need to make an appointment to do this – give it to your counselor before school and pick it up later in the day. Deadline for submission is March 2. Please note that certain restrictions apply and only those who qualify by GPA, have a certain income level, and will attend college (public or private) in California will be eligible to receive money. File this form even if you are not sure that you will attend school in California.
Individual College-based Funds:
This money includes everything from athletic to academic or merit scholarships. Schools that are heavily endowed often pass money on to students in the form of scholarships. Certain
very wealthy schools have begun to replace loans in a financial aid package with money from their endowments, and although some of those schools base all of their financial aid decisions on need only, they will make sure you have as few loans as possible. Some colleges offer long-term and short-term emergency loans out of their own funds.
Financial Aid Directly from a College:
Within your application packet for a private school (or at the website), you may find an additional financial aid form, or a request to complete the CSS Profile (see the College Board website for the Profile). College financial aid offices may also require a copy of the parents’
most recent income tax return. Most colleges and all federal and state aid programs use the FAFSA as a basis for granting aid, and all students applying for aid must fill out the FAFSA.
The FAFSA asks for a detailed account of a family’s financial situation. After processing, the results are sent to the colleges indicated by the student.
You may complete the initial application for the CSS Profile online in October. You will be sent the long form, which asks similar questions to the FAFSA. The CSS Profile can be submitted in the fall, while the FAFSA cannot be submitted until January 1. Once again, be aware of individual college financial aid priority dates – each one may be different. Priority dates mean that if you do not file your forms on time, you may not receive full financial aid.
February 15 is the deadline for submitting FAFSA for state scholarship programs. Paper forms for the FAFSA are available in the Counseling Center, and the application is online as early as November or December – if you file electronically, remember to download a copy for your files, and do not push the send button until January 1!
National Merit Scholarship Corporation:
The NMSC administers many scholarships for colleges and businesses. Scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis using the results of the PSAT you took in October of your junior year. A student becomes a semi-finalist based on a high selection index score (usually the top 1% of those who tested) on the PSAT/NSMQT exam.
Although the amount of most scholarships is somewhat minimal and one-time only, the prestige of being named a scholar is significant. Scholarships come from the National Merit Corporation (one-time only, non-renewable), individual colleges (may or may not be renewable), and corporations (usually renewable) that award to students who live in the vicinity of one of the sponsoring company’s place of business.
Private Scholarships:
Scholarships are awarded by many private organizations that are local, state, and national. They look for many attributes in a student, ranging from particular extracurricular activities, academic abilities, and personal qualities. The Scholarship Board in the Counseling Center advertises many opportunities and is updated every few days. The most valuable computer search every student should make is at www.fastweb.org (see the link at Family Connection). This is a free scholarship search that requires your registration. Provide as much information as possible and you will begin to receive regular updates as to scholarships for which you might be eligible.
Be very careful about private scholarship searches. You should never have to pay money to obtain scholarships. Most of these organizations have been reported to the Better Business Bureau, and there is a warning at the federal funding web page, www.finaid.org (link at Family Connection) for more information about scholarship scams. Please also refer to the FastWeb Student Bulletin in the Appendix for a discussion of scholarship scams.
Other resources that can be used for college funding are home equity loans (tax deductible). Sometimes these rates and payment schedules are more reasonable than those offered on student loans from private sources and colleges.