<p>What prices in the COA list are actual figures and which ones are not?</p>
<p>The housing/meals price, for example, was quoted at about $10500. Yet, the billing statement for the fall that I received was approximately $4500. I asked the housing office if this fall figure would be about the same for the spring and she told me very likely. The extra $1500 I would have borrowed because of that quote could easily pay off the quoted personal expenses (that I had covered with other funds).</p>
<p>In a recent thread, we were looking to take about $10000 out in loans. The $10000 loan calculation we were looking to bring out were calculated from the listed COA (in other words, the inflated estimate). We realize that we need to borrow the least possible figure when taking out any loans and wonder if we can cut the estimated $10000 loan figure to a lower amount before we actually take any loans out.</p>
<p>Is it possible to calculate the actual COA (as opposed to the estimate that some claim to be too inflated)?</p>
<p>Any cost that is not billed by the college is going to be an estimate and subject to personal circumstances and preferences. After your first semester you should have a better idea about the non-billed costs and can borrow more in line with your needs.</p>
<p>The housing/meals price, for example, was quoted at about $10500. Yet, the billing statement for the fall that I received was approximately $4500. I asked the housing office if this fall figure would be about the same for the spring and she told me “very likely”. The extra $1500 I would have borrowed because of that quote could easily pay off the quoted “personal expenses” (that I had covered with other funds).</p>
<p>That $10,500 estimate for R&B may have been based on a pricier dorm or pricier meal plan. </p>
<p>Just look up the actual prices on the housing website and the meal plan website.</p>
<p>While your billing statement is for a semester, COA estimates are generally for the whole year. There’s no way to figure out an exact COA, even for a student returning to the same school for another year. Living in a more expensive dorm (say one with AC) or taking a less expensive plan can change the bill. You might take classes with extra course fees one year, but not another. If you’re at a state school that charges per credit hour as opposed to one flat “full time” rate, your bill will change from one semester to the next. Same for fees tied to credit hours. </p>
<p>It gets easier to guess is subsequent years, but you’re probably never going to get it down to the penny.</p>
<p>The only “COA” for you is your students and your family’s actual costs, and there is no way anyone could tally that up. I won’t even tally every cent–too scary. Most of us accompany our student to the school and stay a night, take kid and roommate out for a pizza, slip a few extra buck in hand. Depnding on what you have at hand, linens and housewares could cost a small fortune depending on where you shop, to nothing, if like in our case, you already have so much that you can just go into your larder.</p>
<p>My kids were food moochers so that cut down a lot on their food budget, coupled with their dislike in buying meals. This fourth one is more orthodox and the meal plan got a work out plus he likes eating out locally, a cost he absorbed.</p>
<p>When I look at COAs at the $60K level, I cringe, because I know that there are unacknowledged, uncovered costs that our family would incur. We like to visit our kids at school; they tend to be in sports or other activities where we want to see them, so that becomes a heavy line item. My son in college now will have a much higher COA next year if his switching of internal schools comes through. He is also going to pay more for an upper class room vs a tiny freshman double dorm room.</p>
<p>If a student is gettting full or close to it met, a high COA is useful. It also gives flexibility for borrowing purposes. But all of that is according to the way the school comes up with the COA. Some schools give a blanket COA for living off campus vs on, and are not as generous or realistic as others in coming up with the numbers.</p>
<p>One part of FA and COA that I’m trying to get through to D2 is that if you don’t earn your full WS allotment, then you’ve essentially lowered your FA package and raised your COA. </p>
<p>It was her fr year and getting used to college academics was the first priority, so a low stress/low pay WS job with relatively few hours per week was OK. But to reduce the COA, next year she’ll be expected to earn the full WS amount.</p>
<p>I always tell students to pay particular attention to estimated tuition charges. At some schools, tuition is a flat rate, but at many, it is based on credits. Colleges will estimate based on a certain number of credits. The colleges in my area tend to estimate using a low number of credits … 12 where I worked; 12 where my son goes to school. Our costs are obviously higher for S than the estimate, since he takes a courseload that will allow him to graduate in 4 years.</p>
<p>So should we just borrow the estimated $10,000 then? With any left over money not spent, wed use it to pay off part of the loans accumulating interest, I assume.</p>
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<p>Speaking of WS, I was offered $3500 max. in WS though I did not calculate this amount in the calculation for obvious reasons. </p>
<p>Would I be able to earn a reasonable amount out of that $3500 max. they added to my financial aid package? How can I maximize the amount I would be able to earn?</p>
<p>According to a few friends at the university, jobs are competitive to get on campus too many interested in one but not many to go around. (not sure if this is usual for campuses of medium size.)</p>
<p>The workstudy award is just the amount you are allowed to make IF you find a work study position during the year. It does not guarantee a job or that you will be able to make that much. That’s all up to you. Sometimes kids do better finding their own regular jobs. There are situation where finding anything that fits your schedule and doable does not exist.</p>
<p>My brother’s and SIL’s niece found a very nice position mid semester and used her work study allotment for that. It’s only a few hours a week, and her award was not very big either. She has another job that pays more and gives her more hours, but when she found this work study position, she took it as well because it is right on her way to class, likes the work and the people and is the exact fit for her award. But she did not find it until mid semester. She has parlayed it into a bigger job and has gotten a bigger award this upcoming year. So it gave her $1000 spending money over the school year for little trouble. </p>
<p>But there is no guarantee that you will get to use all of that $3500. IT depends on what is available at your particular school and what your schedule is going to be.</p>
<p>How much of your work study award you can actually earn will also depend upon the hourly wage you are paid. As an incoming freshman my S was awarded work study in most of his aid packages. We noticed that the schools located in states with a higher minimum wage often gave him a higher award ($3500 compared to $2500.) Work study jobs, especially for freshman with little previous work experience, often pay minimum wage or just a tad over that.</p>
<p>There can be a couple thousand swing in R+B depending on which dorm you get assigned to, which you often don’t know until far into the summer, and which meal plan you pick (if you have an option, at some schools freshmen have only only plan to choose from). So the R+B quoted in the COA is an average.</p>
<p>Another thing to be aware of is that there can be a lot of fees that are not included in the COA, especially as a freshman. For example, at DS’s college flagship, there is a $300 “Freshman Counseling Fee”, a $185 “Undergraduate Entering Fee”, engineering students pay an extra $320/year, Honors College students pay an extra $500/year. There’s $1300 right there that doesn’t show up in the COA.</p>
<p>And if you have to get health insurance through the school it is almost $2800/year. Also not in the COA.</p>
<p>In addition at many schools, the science and/or other classes charge extra “lab fees” or whatever. This can add up to a few hundred per year.</p>
<p>Some schools deliberately (IMO) underestimate costs for books and personal expenses in the COA, you have to factor in travel…</p>
<p>Then there’s fees for attending orientation… it never ends. </p>
<p>I would recommend that if you need a buffer to cover any unanticipated expenses, you take the full amount of loans and bank it until you get a better idea of what the costs really are. If you don’t use it all you can borrow less next semester or next year, or pay down the loan.</p>