I have been admitted to Augustana College for the Engineering major and granted some aids and scholarships. However, when I look through the indirect cost, it might take my cost of attendance up too high (details are down below). So I want to ask how much can this direct cost reach from others who have experience at Augustana, especially in the engineering major. Thank you so much.
These costs are estimated because everyone’s circumstances are different and the school has no way of knowing. Every student needs health insurance but some students are covered under their parents existing plan so there is no change in the family’s expense but others may need some kind of “extension” to cover a distance from their plan’s home area, and other students may not have insurance at all and need to buy the policy the school recommends. Book costs can depend on buying used or new books, renting, and even some professors teaching the same class requiring different materials. “Miscellaneous Living Expenses” is a catch all phrase for anything else like a tube of toothpaste, snacks or food not covered under a meal plan, tickets to special events on campus like guest speakers. None of these amounts are billed by the school so they don’t know what your specific needs/wants are. Generally, these are not something covered by a grant or financial aid but you do have some ways to limit what you spend, just maybe not the health insurance.
The COA consists of Direct Cost and Indirect Cost but the school only charges Direct Cost. The Indirect Cost is an estimate cost to you when you attend college, which may be more or less and varies on students.
Their specific experience isn’t going to help you. Whether or not they already have health insurance doesn’t change what you pay. If they have a part time job and spend $100 a week on eating at restaurants in town instead of in the dining hall, that doesn’t change what you do. If their roommate took exactly the same classes and they shared used books and split the cost doesn’t help you know if the main Physics book is a new edition this year and costs $160.
Start with what you know: Will your parent’s current health insurance cover you on campus? Or do you need to buy the plan offered by the school?
Everything else is a cost you have input in. Renting used textbooks is closer to the lower end of the range, buying new ones is higher. You say to yourself “I’d love to buy a new book but I can only afford to rent a used one” or “We went out for pizza yesterday so I can’t order Thai food tonight” or “I like that sweatshirt in the bookstore but I’d rather see that guest speaker next Tuesday”.
The above is great advice. Universities are going to pdf books these days. Also for engineering many of the books are online depending on the school. No question get used books. Many places to do that so Google that some books for first year can be really expensive. But both my kids got great used books.
Universities have lots of “free” stuff… Do those till you can figure out things later. The estimates are usually high.
Also get a part-time job. Many students just work 8-10 hours /week… Many jobs you can also study at and get some side money. Working the desk at a dorm. Library, etc or do something that interests you. Most will let you off for studying and are linent so you can study.
Also many freshman food plans are actually too much food. Some have extra bucks that you can use at places outside the dorm food.
If your getting financial aid ask for help with housing costs. Many don’t and they have money for that. Also professors might have extra copies of books but again many schools they might have you download a pdf copy of what you need.
Thank you for your advice. (。・ω・。). That is why I ask if someone know whether the courses at Augustana have, like, pdf books and reduce the price. Since I am an international student, I need to explain this to my parents so they can have in mind how much approximately are we going to pay. (┬┬﹏┬┬)
If they have the means then estimate high. When you come on lower you can show then you are saving then money… Lol… Email admissions at the school and just ask this question. They would have an idea. Also if you know your major just look up your schools name and like calc1 and see if there are any online books or look up the department and ask the question. That might give you a better sense but some like hard cover books and are willing to pay for those.
My college student hasn’t spent much in books, maybe $200 a semester. She has been able to find free PDFs on the web, or has rented books. But, she is not an engineering major.
You will probably want some spending money too, and it varies widely how much a given student spends per month, but $50/month for snacks and incidentals is probably a good starting point to budget.
The estimates by colleges on books are wildly inaccurate. My S, who is a junior in CS taking a full load of courses every year, has spent so far a grand total of…less than $100 (compared to the college’s estimate which is well in excess of $4k over 3 years).
Yep!!! The interesting thing is with lower food plans (seems like kids only eat 2 meals a day these days, pdf books and off campus housing where avaliable you can really reduce a nice chunk from the college bill. Throw is working 8-10 hours a week on campus… Having some spending money and learning time management skills can aid their experience.
Augustana College doesn’t have a complete engineering program, though. They have a 3-2 program where you study at Augustana for 3 years, then (if you get admitted), finish up engineering at a uni with engineering the last 2 years. But you typically should not expect fin aid for those last 2 years. Does your family have funds for that?