<p>That’s pretty much what I did.</p>
<p>I took the institutional costs (tuition, fee, R&B) and subtracted need based FA (not including loans) and/or merit scholarships to figure out exactly what I’ll be paying to the college. I used standardized costs for misc. personal expenses and books but did modify travel costs somewhat (eg. IS public which is an hour away vs. 3k miles away) and added that to arrive at a total COA.</p>
<p>The one thing that I didn’t account for and has made a small difference is WS. I included it in the need based FA that is subtracted from institutional charges, but in actuality, D2s school has a relatively high WS amount and for the past 2 years she has not worked enough to earn the entire amount and so has left some money on the table, thus increasing the COA. Like I say, it’s a relatively small amount but might be something to consider, D1 had an outside scholarship that replaced part of her WS so she was always able to easily earn her full allotment.</p>