Despite the IU website and ONE portal seeming to have superficial interest in creating a “modern”/“sleek” user interface, I find that actually obtaining relevant information feels almost intentionally obtuse. At the moment I just can’t figure out the factors that make up a person’s total room & board cost. I’d like to think, for example, that when the Briscoe dorm advertises a $9k price tag, that this price is for the academic school year, like how in-state tuition is quoted at around $10k. But it could be just a semester, I have no way to tell. The Financial Aid portal suggests I will spend over $10k for the whole year in Room & Board, but doesn’t specify if that’s assuming I take a Standard price or Enhanced price. And is dining options included in these dorm prices (as the term 'room & board often go as one) or is that a separate entity?
Anyone that can give pointers on how to not accidentally saddle myself and my mom with debt will be greatly appreciated.
Room and board is housing + meal plan. Rates advertised for HOUSING are per-year - keep in mind that there are different types of rooms in each dorm, which may have different costs! There’s no “one” cost per dorm, but the advertised rate will be the median (not mean) price a student will pay. Your meal plan will be about $3,500 for the entire academic year.
The financial aid portal is deliberately vague with their estimates because there’s so much variability between dorm and meal plan pricing. Google is your friend, and there’s a page on Student Central that will give you a detailed breakdown of how much you’ll be paying and for what, per semester.
Feel free to ask more specific questions if I didn’t fully answer you.
p.s. you’re unlikely to get Briscoe as a dorm. don’t count on it
With the unprecedented mold crisis in numerous dorms this year, it has been a year of uncertainty this year and going forward. In the past, students could “preference” a housing selection. I understand that was the case this year but instead of just preferencing a neighborhood, kids could preference a specific building. At IU you should read the housing contract thoroughly and understand what the language really means. Some people mentioned they did not get the assignment they hoped for or needed despite submitting a medical request related to a health condition. In the past year on the parent FB page there were some parents who complained that the student selected one price tier but got assigned a different one. Also some people get everything they preference, lucky, others do not. So my advice is adjust your expectations knowing that. Meal plans come in several options and price ranges. They usually advise the middle plan. But understand those are not dollars for dollars straight to food. Of that $3500 they skim off a significant portion for admin costs and you are left with a lesser balance. You can always select the lowest priced meal plan therefore paying the lowest admin cost for the year. If you run out of dining money before the year is over you can add cash to the acct direct through the bursar office and what you add goes direct to meal plan/food with no admin costs skimmed off. That’s the most economical way to go. I heard that solid pricing on housing will not be announced until this Summer, by then you will have your actual assignment and will know exactly what kind of room you are in - double, triple, quad, etc. Also, in the past when the university had overflow housing issues and some students were assigned to makeshift lounge set ups, they were still charged a typical dorm rate until a permanent assignment could be made. Even a temp lounge can be considered a dorm room. Most of the lounges that were used for mold evacuees were finally freed up for the original students on those floors to use by about a month ago. Briscoe is nice, typically where most of the athletes are housed. But will be kind of isolated this coming year since all the McNutt buildings, including McNutt Central and food court plus all the Foster buildings will be shut down for upgrades. Rumor is that Gresham food court will be open next year despite the other closures next door. Good luck wherever you land.