<p>Ok this is probably a dumb question. When I have run the finaid EFC calculator it asks for a college costs at the end and I have entered estimated costs. When I do the actual FAFSA where does this come from? Is it on the SAR? Or is it something the college comes up with when they do a financial aid offer/package whatever? Is it a standardised number? How do they know the COA without knowing exactly how many hours the student will be enrolled in? On the finaid calculator it lists things like transportation expenses/health insurance/incidental expenses - can these actually be part of the finai package? Where do the numbers come from.
I think I have figured out what I am doing with most of the FAFSA but this part I am puzzled by! I did come across a COA figure for one of the school DD is looking at and it was higher than I expected based on what I thought the cost of tuition/fees/books/housing is.</p>
<p>S, I could be wrong, but I think the individual colleges list this on their websites under the financial aid sections. I know D's does - it's actually rather formally presented...so I assume others do as well...</p>
<p>Yes I did find it (with difficulty) for her first choice school. The number include transportation and 'Personal & Miscellaneous'. They include that in financial aid packages? And books - if your books are more or less when you actually attend how does that affect financial aid? Or is the estimate the 'final word' the package is based on?</p>
<p>I am pretty sure that the formal COA the individual schools list is the final criteria the financial aid package is based on. I could be wrong though - but - that is what I think. I do not think what students spend on books are considered - so many of them seem to make deals, buy used, borrow, trade, etc. That would be impossibe to track. </p>
<p>The difference is with athletic book scholarships - the books actually end up "belonging" to the athletic department, and end up having to be returned there once the semester is over, so, the actual figure is used...</p>
<p>Thanks latetoschool. I had not realised they included things like transportation & personal costs so it is kind of good news - I think. She is not on an athletic scholarship but hopefully she will be more succesful at selling back books at semesters end than my son was - there always seemed to be some reason why they would not buy them back.</p>
<p>COst of attendance = tuition room board, books, travel (not extensive, usually breaks, a few misc. expenses. regarding health insurance, if your student is covered under your health plan they will not have to purchase health insurance however, the college may require documentation that you do have a insurance and may set a required amount.</p>
<p>your financial aid is based on the following premise:</p>
<p>Cost of attendance - EFC (it could vary based on the methodology that the school is using) = demonstrated need.</p>
<p>Not all schools meet 100% of demonstrated need. When the whole need is not met this is called gapping ( it is on you how the gap is filled).</p>
<p>not all schools fill need the same. a school could essentially give you a package of all loans and will still have "met" your need.</p>
<p>I would suggest looking up your schools on the college board website. click the financial aid tab to get an idea of how aid is packaged at that school (% grant aid/ % self help aid (student loans, work study).</p>
<p>Our experience was that the estimated COA was higher than the actual COA-- tuition/fees were dead on, of course. But the estmate for room/board off campus was a bit high, the transportation was high, the insurance we were able to waive due to our existing policy (but it still remained part of the aid package), the books allowance was generous, and resulted in a savings of hundreds of dollars with some careful shopping, and the miscellaneous expenses allowance was generous as well.</p>
<p>Bottom line-- the difference between the estimated COA and the actual COA covered most of our estimated EFC.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. All very helpful information.</p>