<p>I'd like to make arrangements to pay my daughter's tuition, room and board, etc. and need to know how much to withdraw from our 529 account but nothing's been posted to her CARS. I could make a good guess, I suppose, but I'd prefer to be precise. </p>
<p>Has anyone else got a bill for "the works" yet? I don't know how long it takes to get the 529 money (requests are by mail only) and I'm getting a bit nervous given that payments are due by Aug. 15.</p>
<p>Good question. It doesn't get posted to the CARS account until the middle-end of July. If your daughter has allowed you to get into her account to pay, you get set up with your own email address and password, and you as well as your daughter will be notified by email when the amount is posted. There are add-ons, beware of that. For example, CALSO costs get posted to CARS; phone service (although that comes at the end of each semester). You have the option of paying the entire semester for fees, room & board; or entire semester for fees and monthly (divided into 10 parts) for room & board (easier on the wallet!); or monthly for both (but get hit with extra fees for the fee portion). </p>
<p>It's easy to figure out how much you're going to need for the first bill: without ship, it's about $4,000 for fees for 1 semester. Then look at the cost for room & board, divide that into 10 (so, if the room & board is $15,000, the monthly fee you'll be charged is $1,500 plus a 50 cent service charge for the online service).</p>
<p>I have put aside $5,500 for my son's August 15th bill, although if you want to be cautious, set aside $6,000 -- that should cover it.</p>
<p>Thanks, UCLA.</p>
<p>Since you mention ship...is it necessary if one has good coverage? Or is it a hassle not to have it and worth the money (what...$400?...$600? per year) to have it? I believe it's said that anyone can use the health center and I think they said they will bill insurance....</p>
<p>SHIP is $1276 a year. I would highly recommend waiving SHIP if you have good coverage (pays for visits to doctor, any emergencies, etc.). </p>
<p>It's much more costly to bill insurance from SHIP, there are many offices around Berkeley that you can get to by bus and would make the process much easier and cheaper.</p>
<p>Note that the SHIP waiver deadline is July 15th, so if you want to do that, do that soon.</p>
<p>The only hassle is trying to waive the darned thing. They really DON'T want you to waive it because it's a money-maker. I was just talking to parents of new students about this today. When you or the student goes to the SHIP waiver, and clicks on to waive, it does NOT take you to the waiver, but rather to a series of reasons why you SHOULDN'T. It's all a bunch of bull. The parents I spoke to . . . one actually sorted it out and waived it; the other decided to go for it this year because her daughter has a full scholarship, but they have full outside coverage so it really doesn't make a lot of sense.</p>
<p>You get to the following page and look at the obtuse options:</p>
<p>UHS:</a> SHIP - Student Health Plan Insurance</p>
<p>Click on the 2nd option about being "unsure". That's where they give you all the reasons why you should not waive it. But here, there is FINALLY the option "I want to waive ship" so you click on that, give the student id and after more warnings and a check list you can finally waive it. Grudgingly as far as they are concerned.</p>
<p>The thing is, they use Anthem Blue Cross, so you especially want to waive it if you already have it (which we do).</p>
<p>Just beware that once your kid is about to turn 19, you get a non-descript sort of dunning letter from your insurance company that you think is just a description of services rendered. NO. It's a letter telling you that unless you provide proof that your kid is enrolled full time at university, that insurance you have on your employment insurance goes away. Please be mindful of this message and respond quickly, since it sometimes takes time for the university to give you whatever your insurance company is requesting.</p>
<p>Again, thanks, UCLA. I have managed to determine that there are, in fact, many in-network providers and at least one hospital within walking distance of campus. I did also manage to waive SHIP, which does seem as though Cal REALLY does not recommend.</p>
<p>You can still use the Tang center even if you don't have SHIP. They take any insurance.</p>