<p>So I was in the midst of securing an apartment for next year since everyone knows the apartments are cheaper (~$400/mo on avg) than the dorms, but then I saw the FA Office Student budget for next year and it shows that you get twice as much money if your living on campus than off (12k vs. 6k). Now, since it doesn't actually cost the university 12k to have you living on-campus (dorms are a major rip off) I've been told that for students on FA its actually cheaper to live on campus than off. With an off campus budget of 6k, it averages to about $500/mo for housing, whereas my half of the 2br apt rent would cost me $800/mo. If I lived on campus I'd allegedly have a small surplus after the money went towards the actual housing. </p>
<p>In the short term, yes, in the long term, no, and it also depends on the structure of your financial aid award.</p>
<p>The financial aid estimates for housing/utilities for the 07-08 Academic Year is $6,984, or $698/month (10 months to academic year). The actual rent would need to be closer to $620 excluding utilities, internet, and cable tv. If you want off-street parking, often times it is extra and around $50/month (lowest I've seen is $20, highest is $100). Given typical rent ranges, it would be considerably more expensive for those on FA to live in a single off-campus (as compared to shared housing, on campus). Here, "cost" also considers other things, like working. A lot of folks dependent of FA money need to do work-study. Suppose you have an $800 apartment (which, according to link, is "average" share for a 2-bedroom Berkeley apartment) and utilities bump that amount to $850/month, you'd be overbudget by $160/month or $1,600/academic year. To make up that difference, you'd need to work off your work-study amount (which usually takes care of personal expenditures, as calculated by the FAO) of between $2000-$4000 in addition to the $1,600 just to make ends meet. </p>
<p>If you lived on-campus, your calculated resident budget includes $876 for meals outside of meal plan and $580 in transportation. If you are fairly conservative in your spending, there could be a "surplus" by year's end. However, this depends on what type of FA awards you get. Because there is a maximum amount for federal grants and stafford loans, you will be required to take out additional loans (Perkins comes to mind). Although pure speculation, I would imagine that your work-study amount is higher if you live in the residence halls (mine dropped $1200 upon moving off campus). In the end, that "surplus" is actually extra loans that you wouldn't have taken out had you lived off-campus, and loans you're going to have to pay off after graduation.</p>
<p>The difference in overall COA is about $2000-$3000 living on campus v off campus. We found it cheaper living off campus, esp when you figure that the additional money would be coming from loans! That did not include a car in either place.</p>
<p>I'm so confused. My uncle went over this with me a couple nights ago to convince me to live in the dorms, and ttiang's response shows that theres an extra ~$1600/mo living off campus...but also that if you live on campus you take in more loans that you don't need?</p>
<p>I don't have a car so that's not a problem. I'm trying to figure out if it would be better to live in a $1595/mo 2br apt with a roomate (which I was preferring) or in a dorm, most likely a unit double/triple. </p>