OP mentioned SUNY Bing
Here is the current COA
direct costs:
tuition: $7,070*
Fees: $3,249
Room & Board $17,064**
$27, 383 just to go to class, sleep in the dorm and eat.
OP needs $10,223 and s/he has not bought a book, a sheet, pillow or even a bus ticket to get to Bing.
Sybbie is right that a 0 EFC doesn’t mean free. There will still be a large gap at the SUNYs even with the state and federal grants and the federal student loan. Can you commute to a SUNY or CUNY? That would be the most affy option.
Perhaps she can commute to a SUNY as she would to a CUNY. In addition, living off campus is generally cheaper than living on campus, so there are savings that can be found.
Hopefully OP is in communting distance of SUNY.
If yes, there is only one SUNY school in NYC- FIT.
Unless OP is looking at FIT, it will be virtually impossible for her to have a SUNY Option (other than FIT) and CUNY Options in the city.
So what’s wrong with CUNY as her NYC option?
Nothing is wrong with CUNY as her NYC option (as long as she lives in NYC). If OP does not live in NYC, it will not be an affordable option (first of all she will be charged the out of city rate unless she lives in the 5 boroughs or has attended school in NYC).
OP is not going to have the option of commuting to SUNY (unless she attends FIT) and having CUNY as an affordable commutable option
You have to live in NYS for CUNY tuition- you don’t have to live in NYC.
They will ask for a certificate of residency.
You’ve completely lost me. There is no difference in CUNY tuition for NYC residents and other NY state residents. Whether or not she can commute is a function of where she lives. There are public colleges scattered all over NY State. So there’s a good chance she can commute somewhere.
2 Students who live in NY State but do not live in New York City may be eligible for the same tuition as a NYC resident. To pay NYC tuition, you must submit a Certificate of Residency Form to the Bursar’s Office by a specified date.
Even if OP does have gets NYC tuition, any costs savings will have been eaten up by room board/commuting cost (the exception would be if OP got in to Macauley honors at Hunter, which covers 2 years of housing)
The purpose of the Certificate of Residency is to prove that you live in NYS.
SUNY schools require the same Certificate of Residency.
We don’t know where this student lives and what schools are within commuting distance.
If OP lives close enough to NYC for an easy commute, then CUNY will be the Affordable option.
Otherwise, OP may need an affordable option at the closest SUNY that she can commute to.
What do you mean MAY be eligible? As a state resident, she IS eligible. Like everything else with college, she has to submit paperwork. Routine.
What room & board costs? Again, it all depends on where she lives. As long as she lives within commuting distance of a NY public college, living costs remain the same as they were in high school with the possible exception of a car - again, depending on where she lives.
If the student has a $0 EFC this probably isn’t strictly accurate. High school students can get free/reduced breakfast and lunch. College students aren’t eligible. That could mean as many as 40 extra meals a month that they have to pay for. They should make sure to take that into account.