Cost of Attendance CHAPTER

2
(Budget)
Awards for each of the FSA programs are based on some form of financial
need, beginning with cost of attendance. This chapter picks up at the
point where you have established the student’s EFC (see the Application
and Verification Guide) and the student’s basic eligibility (see Volume I).

Most schools establish average costs for different categories of students

and set these cost categories in EDExpress or other software that they use
to calculate awards and package aid. The typical costs that you establish
for your students will be used to calculate their Pell, Stafford, and
Campus-Based awards (Chapters 3,4, and 5) and package their aid
(Chapter 6).
CHAPTER 2 HIGHLIGHTS
Allowable Costs
Unlike scholarship programs that may award funds based on Determined by school, taking into account:
academic merit or the student’s field of study, “need-based” grants, ➔ Tuition and fees
loans, and work-study are based on the family’s need for assistance. ➔ Books, supplies, transportation, personal, misc.
➔ Room and board
The cost of attendance is the cornerstone of establishing a ➔ Dependent care
student’s financial need, as it sets a limit on the total aid that a ➔ Study abroad expenses
➔ Disability expenses
student may receive for purposes of the Campus-Based Programs
➔ Employment expenses for coop study
and Stafford/PLUS loans, and is one of the basic components of
➔ Loan fees
the Pell Grant calculation.
Exceptions
➔ Less than half-time enrollment
ALLOWABLE COSTS ➔ Correspondence study
The cost of attendance for a student is an estimate of that ➔ Incarcerated students
student’s educational expenses for the period of enrollment. As we’ll ➔ Professional judgment
see, you can use average expenses for students at your school, rather
than actual expenses. For example, for the tuition and fees Costs met from other sources
component, you can use the same average amount for all full-time ➔ Tuition and fees not paid by student
students, instead of figuring the actual tuition and fees for each ➔ Free room and board
individual student. You can have different standard costs for different
Costs for period of enrollment
categories of students, such as a cost of attendance for in-state students
➔ Campus-Based and Stafford/PLUS are based on
(who have lower tuition) and a higher cost of attendance for out-of- costs for the period of enrollment; for instance,
state students. If a student is enrolled in a program that has extra fees costs for a student attending a single semester in
or costs, such as lab fees, you can add those fees to the student’s cost the school year would be limited to the costs for
or use a standard cost that you’ve established for all students in that that time period.
program. If you establish standard cost categories, you must apply the ➔ Pell is always based on the cost of full-time
cost allowances uniformly to all students in those categories. attendance for a full academic year.

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Actual costs for Pell must be full-year There are different ways to arrive at average costs for your
If you’re using actual charges for a student who is students, such as periodic surveys of your student population and
attending part-time or for a portion of an academic local housing costs.
year, you must prorate the part-time student’s actual
costs to determine the full-time, full-year budget that
will be used to look up the student’s Pell award.
Allowable costs in general
The types of costs that may be included are the same for all FSA
programs. The cost of attendance for the Campus-based and
Cost of attendance components Stafford/PLUS programs is a student’s cost for the period of
The cost of attendance is determined by law enrollment. The cost of attendance used for Pell Grants is always
(Higher Education Act, Sec. 472) and is not subject the full-year costs for a full-time student, so you may have to prorate
to regulation by the Department. actual or average costs up or down for students who are attending
less than an academic year (or who are part-time in a term
The law specifies the types of costs that are included program). We’ll discuss this at the end of this chapter.
in the cost of attendance, but you must determine the
appropriate amount to include for each category for A student’s cost of attendance generally is the sum of the
students at your school.
following:
Disabled student
• The tuition and fees normally assessed for a student carrying
A student is considered disabled if he or she is deaf,
mentally retarded, hard of hearing, speech or language
the same academic workload. This includes costs of rental or
impaired, visually disabled, seriously emotionally purchase of equipment (including equipment for instruction by
disturbed, orthopedically impaired, autistic, has a telecommunications), materials, or supplies required of all
traumatic brain injury, is otherwise health-impaired, or students in the same course of study.
has specific learning disabilities that require special
education and related services. • An allowance for books, supplies, transportation, and
miscellaneous personal expenses. This can include a reasonable
amount, as determined by your school, for the documented
rental or purchase of a personal computer that the student will
use for study for the enrollment period. For example, a
computer purchased in the summer for use in the fall term may
be included.

• An allowance for room and board. For students without

dependents living at home with their parents, this will be an
allowance that you determine. For students living on campus,
the allowance is the standard amount normally assessed most
residents. For those living off campus but not with their
parents, the allowance must be based on reasonable expenses
for room and board.

• For a student with dependents, an allowance for costs expected

to be incurred for dependent care. This covers care during
periods that include, but that are not limited to, class time, study
time, field work, internships, and commuting time for the
student. The amount of the allowance should be based on the
number and age of such dependents and should not exceed
reasonable cost in the community for the kind of care provided.

• For study-abroad programs approved for credit by the student’s

home institution, reasonable costs associated with such study.

• For a disabled student, an allowance for expenses related to the

student’s disability. These expenses include special services,

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personal assistance, transportation, equipment, and supplies Documentation of exceptional expenses

that are reasonably incurred and not provided for by other The law doesn’t specify what documentation you must
agencies. collect for expenses such as dependent care or
disability-related expenses. You can document these
expenses in any reasonable way, such as documenting
• For students engaged in a work experience through a
an interview with the student or obtaining a written
cooperative education program, an allowance for reasonable statement from the student or other appropriate
costs associated with such employment. sources.

• For students receiving loans, the fees required to receive them

Less than Half Time COA Components
(for example, the loan fee for a Direct Loan or the origination For students who are less than half time, COA can
fee and insurance premium for a FFEL). You may also include include only:
the fees required for nonfederal student loans (that is,
nonfederal loans that must be considered resources for the • tuition and fees,
student when packaging aid). In all cases, you can either use the • an allowance for books and supplies,
• transportation (but not miscellaneous & personal
exact loan fees charged to the student or an average of fees
expenses), and
charged to borrowers of the same type of loan at your school. • an allowance for dependent care expenses.
“Backend” fees for non-federal loans may only be included if
they are charged to the borrower during the period of
enrollment for which the loan is made.

Exceptions to the normal cost allowances

The following are the exceptions to the normal cost of attendance
allowances discussed above:

• For students who are enrolled less than half time, only the costs
for tuition and fees and allowances for books and supplies,
transportation (but not miscellaneous expenses), and
dependent care expenses may be included as part of the cost of
attendance.

• Generally, the cost of attendance for correspondence study is

restricted to tuition and fees, which often include books and
supplies. If the costs of books and supplies are separate, then
they may also be counted in the cost of attendance. If the
student is fulfilling a required period of residential training, the
cost of attendance can also include required books and supplies,
an allowance for travel, and room-and-board costs specifically
incurred for the period of residential training. (As mentioned in
Chapter 1 of Volume 1: Student Eligibility, a student isn’t eligible to
receive FSA aid for correspondence courses unless the student is
enrolled in an associate-, bachelor’s-, or graduate-degree
program and unless the school meets the criteria for the
percentage of courses taught using this medium.)

• The cost of attendance for incarcerated students is limited to

tuition and fees and required books and supplies. Remember
that an incarcerated student is ineligible for FSA loans, and if he
is in a federal or state penal institution, he is ineligible for Pell
grants (see Chapter 1) as well.

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Tuition prepayment plan • You have the authority to use professional judgment to adjust
Higher Education Act the cost of attendance on a case-by-case basis to allow for special
Sec. 480(j) circumstances. Such adjustments must be documented in the
student’s file. (See “Professional Judgment” in the Application
and Verification Guide.)
Free room and board example
Guerrero University saves some of its Resident Tuition and fees waived or paid by other sources
Assistant jobs for students with exceptional financial In some cases, such as under Workforce Investment Act (WIA —
need. All Resident Assistants receive a waiver of room formerly JTPA) programs, a student’s tuition and fees are paid by
and board charges. If the student quits the job, the another organization or are waived. The student’s costs are based on
waiver is removed and the student has to pay the what the school is actually charging the student, based on the
room and board charges. All the students have the
agreement between the school and the student.
room and board charge in their cost of attendance. For
students who are Resident Assistants because of their
financial need, Guerrero counts the room and board If the student is charged for the tuition and fees, even if the charge
waiver as a resource and estimated financial is eventually paid by someone besides the student (e.g., a scholarship
assistance. The other students must report the waiver agency or other source of aid), then that tuition and fee amount is
as untaxed income. included in the cost of attendance. The tuition and fees payment
would then be counted as a resource and estimated financial
assistance. The charge is documented in the same way as for any non-
WIA reimbursement contracts
WIA student—for instance, in your school’s contract with the student
Some WIA contracts operate on a reimbursement
basis; that is, the student must fulfill the terms of the
or in the agreement with the WIA agency. (If your school charges the
contract before WIA will reimburse the school for student for tuition and fees, your school would have to expect the
tuition and fee costs. If the student doesn’t fulfill the student to pay the charge if the WIA agency or other source of
terms of the contract, the school is left with an unpaid assistance doesn’t pay on the student’s behalf.)
tuition and fees charge.The school isn’t permitted to
hold the student liable for the unpaid tuition and fees. If the student is never charged for tuition and fees, then the cost
Contracts are established this way to offer schools an of attendance wouldn’t include the tuition and fees component. Some
incentive to properly train and place students enrolled WIA agreements with schools provide that the school can’t charge the
in the training programs. However, if a tuition and fees tuition and fees to the student, even if WIA doesn’t cover the costs. If
charge is included in a Title IV recipient’s budget, the your school is prohibited under such an agreement from charging
student would be liable for any outstanding charges tuition and fees to the student, then the tuition and fees aren’t
that are not reimbursed by WIA.Therefore, schools that
included in the student’s cost of attendance.
enter into reimbursement contracts must remove the
tuition and fees component from the Title IV budget
because, under these contracts, schools are prohibited The same principle applies to prepaid tuition plans and college
from holding the student liable for outstanding savings plans. If the money from the plan is intended to reduce the
charges. amount of tuition and fees that is charged to the student, then the
cost of attendance used for the FSA programs would not include a
tuition and fees component. On the other hand, if money from
such a plan is used to pay a tuition and fee charge, then the cost of
attendance is not affected.

Even if there’s no tuition and fees component, the student’s

budget still includes the other costs listed previously, such as an
allowance for living expenses. Note that an award to a student who
has no tuition and fees may need to be based on the Alternate
Schedule for “Tuition Sensitivity” (discussed in Chapter 3).

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 Ch. 2 — Cost of Attendance (Budget)

Room and board provided at no cost to student Costs for a period other than 9 months
If a student lives on campus, the student is considered to have For Stafford, PLUS, and Campus-Based aid, the cost
entered into a contract with the school for room and board, even if of attendance used for packaging must reflect the
student’s cost for that period that he or she is
there’s no charge to the student. If room and board is supplied at no
actually enrolled.
charge, that component of the cost of attendance would be zero. If
the student is charged for the room and board and the charge is then For instance, if a student is completing her program
waived, the value of the room and board can be included in the cost of of study by taking a 1/2-time course load for the
attendance. fall semester at your school, and that’s the only
term that she’ll be attending in the award year, you
The value of room and board provided to an employee should be could use the actual tuition and fee charges for the
reported as untaxed income under housing, food, and other living student’s costs. If you use average costs for living
allowances. It isn’t considered financial aid unless the room and expenses for a 9-month academic year for students
board is part of an on-campus job that was awarded on the basis of in that program, you may divide your average costs
need. If the room and board results from a job that was awarded on by the number of terms in the academic year to
the basis of need, then the value of the room and board would be find the cost for this enrollment period.
counted as a resource for campus-based purposes and as estimated
For Pell Grants, you could either use an average
financial assistance for Stafford purposes and isn’t reported as untaxed
tuition cost for a full-time full-year student in the
income. program or prorate the student’s actual tuition for
the fall term to arrive at a full-year full-time cost.
Costs for living expenses in may also be average
COSTS FOR PERIODS OTHER THAN 9 MONTHS costs for a full academic year—if a full-year
The cost of attendance used to package Campus-based aid and average cost is used, it doesn’t have to be prorated
Stafford/PLUS loans covers the student’s actual period of for Pell Grant awards.
enrollment. Therefore, if the student will be attending for more than
9 months, you must use a higher cost of attendance that includes
living expenses, such as room and board, for the longer period of
time. If the student will be attending for less than 9 months, you must Costs for full program charged at start
use a lower cost of attendance. You can choose to prorate the A school may charge the total cost for a program at
allowances you use for 9 months, or can calculate the cost in any other the beginning of the first period of enrollment, but
reasonable way. if the program is longer than an academic year, you
must prorate these charges to reflect the academic
year used for packaging purposes.
Adjusting Costs for Pell
The types of costs included in the Pell budget are the same as
those for the other FSA programs; however, Pell costs are always based
on the costs for a full-time student for a full academic year.

For Pell, costs for programs or enrollment periods longer or

shorter than an academic year must be prorated so that they are the
costs for one full academic year. This is true for both parts of the
academic year definition: if either the number of weeks or the
number of clock/credit hours differs from the academic year
standard, the costs must be prorated to determine the full-time/full-
year Pell budget.

The need to prorate Pell costs is most likely to occur in these

situations:

• a term-based program that provides less than 30 weeks of

instructional time in an academic year.

• a non-term program that provides less than 24 semester

hours, 36 quarter hours, or 900 clock hours and/or provides less
than 30 weeks of instructional time in an academic year.

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• a program that is longer than an academic year, where the

costs for the entire program are charged at the beginning of the
program.

There are two ways to prorate Pell costs, as shown in the first two
examples on the next page. Both of these examples are based on a
program that is shorter than an academic year. The third example
shows how costs are prorated when they are charged for a program
that is longer than an academic year.

If the student is in a category where costs are limited, such as

less-than-half-time enrollment, those costs that are allowable must
be based on costs for a full-time student for a full academic year. For
instance, the tuition component of the Pell cost of attendance for a
less-than-half-time student must be based on the tuition costs that
would be incurred by a full-time student attending a full academic
year.

Note that prorating the cost of attendance usually does not

affect the amount of Pell Grant the student receives. However,
you’re required to report the full-time-full-year Pell budget when
reporting disbursements to COD.

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 Ch. 2 — Cost of Attendance (Budget)

Cost Example #1: prorating total costs

by lesser of two fractions
You may take the student’s entire cost of attendance (tuition and fees, room and board, etc.,) and multiply it by the lesser of the
two fractions that represent the length of the academic year. If the lesser fraction is one, then you don’t prorate the cost of
attendance. One fraction is based on credit or clock hours and the other is based on weeks of instructional time, as shown in this
example.

Let’s use the example of a program that charges $10,500, awards 18 semester credits, and is completed by most full-time students
within 20 weeks of instructional time.
.
Credit/clock hours in academic year = 24 Weeks in academic year = 30
Credit/clock hours awarded = 18 Weeks provided = 20

Since the fraction using credit hours is the lesser fraction, the program cost of $10,500 is multiplied by 24/18 to find the full-
year Pell cost.
$10,500 x 24/18= $14,000
In this case, the full-time cost is $14,000. (Note: If one of the fractions is equal to one, for instance, if the program awards 24
credit hours, then the pro-rated cost is the same as the original cost of attendance.)

Cost Example #2: prorating academic costs &

living expenses separately
As an alternative, you can separately pro-rate the costs associated with credit or clock hours (tuition and fees, books and supplies,
loan fees) and the costs associated with weeks of instructional time (room and board, miscellaneous expenses, disability
expenses, transportation, dependent care, study abroad, reasonable costs associated with employment as part of a cooperative
education program).
Using our earlier example of a program lasting 20 weeks and awarding 18 credit hours, and specifying that the student’s tuition,
books, supplies, etc come to $4,500 and living expenses amount to $6,000, the calculation would look like this:

24 credit hours
x $4,500 = $6,000
18 credit hours
30 weeks
x $6,000 = $9,000
20 weeks
In this example, the student’s Pell budget is the sum of the two prorated costs, or $15,000.

Cost Example #3: prorating costs for a nonterm program

longer than an academic year
Costs must also be prorated if they are charged for a period longer than an academic year. You may use either of the
proration methods shown in Examples 1 and 2.
We’ll use the example of a program awarding 1,000 clock hours and providing 40 weeks of instructional time. Let’s assume
that the school uses the regulatory minimums in defining the academic year as 900 clock hours and 30 weeks.
The total costs over the 40 weeks, including tuition and living expenses, is $5,900. If we use the method in Example 1, this
amount must be prorated by the lesser of the following two fractions.

Credit/clock hours in academic year = 900 Weeks in academic year = 30

Credit/clock hours awarded = 1000 Weeks provided = 40

The lesser of the two fractions is the one based on weeks (3/4). Multiply the total program cost by this fraction to
determine the Pell costs for a full academic year: $5,900 x 3/4 = $4,425.

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Pell Grant cost of attendance for a

consortium program

A student receiving a Pell Grant for attendance at two schools through a consortium agreement may
have costs from both schools at the same time. The student’s cost of attendance is calculated in the same way
as for a student taking classes at only one school. The student’s tuition and fees and books and supplies
charges at the consortium schools have to be combined into a single charge for a full academic year for
purposes of the Pell calculation. The school paying the student can choose to use actual charges for the
student, which would simply be the sum of the actual charges at both schools. Of course, if the student isn’t
attending full time, your school will have to prorate these tuition and fees and books and supplies charges so
that they are the correct amounts for a full-time full-year student.

If the disbursing school is using average charges, then the average full-time charges at each of the
schools must be prorated and combined. If the student is taking an equal course load at each school, the full-
time tuition and fees charges for an academic year at each school can be averaged to determine the tuition
and fee cost. However, if the student is taking an unequal course load, the disbursing school must prorate the
charges based on the number of hours the student is taking at each school.

Pell Grant cost of attendance for a co-op

program

If a student has a co-op job for the first term, the tuition and fees for that period can be prorated
over the full academic year for the program (which must include at least 30 weeks of instructional
time).This prorated amount is then added to the other cost of attendance components to arrive at the
total cost for a full-time student for a full academic year.

For the rest of the year, your school can either use the cost of attendance with the projected
amount or can recalculate the student’s tuition and fees at the end of the first term to determine a new
cost of attendance for the remaining payment periods. This decision must be consistent with your
school’s overall policy on recalculating for changes in a student’s costs. (See the discussion of Pell Grant
recalculations in Chapter 3 of this volume for more information.) Note that the cost of attendance can
also include employment-related expenses.

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