Have you ever wondered what the total cost of a full year of college may be?
Are you aware that institutions need to create a cost of attendance to award up to when processing financial aid?
It is important that you understand that the cost of attendance is the cost for one academic year. For example, Fall and Spring may be an academic year. Another example is a quarters where you may have Winter, Fall and Spring. I highly recommend that you ask the institution you are attending to provide you the academic year break down.
In addition, you may have multiple academic years you will be attending. We will cover that in a future post. For now, lets stick to one academic year.
So, let me bet back to cost of attendance. It contains 5 different budget items that have to be added together to come up with a total cost of attendance. This is mandated by federal law to make sure that people are being treated fairly.
The 5 budget items are …..
Tuition & Fees
Books
Room & Board
Travel
Personal
Each one of these amounts may vary based on where you plan to live. Are you staying home and commuting to college? Staying off campus or in the housing provided by the institution.
So, when you ask someone how much is it going to cost to go to college? You may be scared by the large dollar amount. Remember that the cost of attendance is including all of the budget items.
In a series of post in the upcoming weeks, I will break down how each one these items affects the cost of attendance and the aid that you will be offered.
So, Stay tuned for next posting on Tuition & Fees explanation!!!
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