<p>I was looking at the COA for GW and I saw that as you get to be an upperclassman you are required to live in more expensive housing, does your need rise proportionally to this increase in housing costs? Also the meal plan at GW drops from a 3,400$ required annual plan to 1,000$ annual plan as you get to be a junior and senior, but presumably you still need to eat so are you expected to pay the lost 2,400$ out of pocket? Or will the cost of eating always be set at 3,400$ for calculating need based aid?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Excellent question and one I asked a few weeks ago with no definite response. This is a question for the FA Office @ GW - and get it in writing about how the COA varies per year and how that affects need-based FA. More expensive housing but less expensive meal plans.</p>
<p>I’m going to ask the same thing - maybe one of us will get a definite response.</p>
<p>I did ask and I was told that I could expect a 3% rise in the COA (from inflation etc) excluding tuition which is set for up to five years. I was also told that you are expected to pay out of pocket for any food not covered under the meal plan, so when the meal plan drops from 3,400$ to 1,000$ (over two years) you could shell out up to 2,400$. And over time you will be required to live in more expensive housing. Any scholarship is a set amount for all four years and in my case I’m already at the max with Stafford loans. Other awards could theoretically go up if my demonstrated need goes up, but I’m unclear how often they recalculate need, and they told me I should not expect my aid to grow over the four years but stay stable.</p>
<p>I looked on the GWU FA Website for “current” students and they had the COA by previous years listed(2006-2009). 3%/yr increase is about right. At least tuition remains fixed for 4 yrs. I agree the scholarships/Grants will not likely increase beyond freshman year.</p>
<p>The “decrease” in meal plan costs as you progress allows partially for the offset in the increase in Housing, although minimally.</p>
<p>If the COA increases, mainly due to housing increases, and your EFC remains constant - by definition your “need” increases. This will likely be met with increased loans. Staffords increase to $7500 junior/senior max. And there is always the PLUS loans which we’ll be using.</p>
<p>I think the reason GW keeps the uition “fixed” is due to the increased housing costs which they are obviously aware.</p>
<p>I guess we’ll proceed since the career opportunities and chances for a “real job” after 4 yrs are pretty good compared to other schools.</p>