Does anyone know if COA shows up if you did not apply for financial aid?
My son’s portal has not changed in at least a week:
Need summary tab shows - Estimated Cost of Attendance (57,382), then Estimated Need (0) and total aid (0). The EFC is listed on the right-hand side and we do not qualify for need-based aid (but we did complete FAFSA in case schools needed it for Scholarships)
Cost of Attendance tab shows the Summary with a breakdown of costs and then you can also select between just viewing the breakdown of fall and spring.
Expected Family contribution tab shows a breakdown of the Parent/Student EFC in more detail.
I doubt it means anything. There are thousands of applications, so it probably just takes time to add/upload the COA for everyone. I would not read anything into it. Also, Coun2316 could be right that it is only there if you applied for financial aid. Again, don’t read into it too much.
COA and family contribution is there, but did not apply for aid (won’t qualify).
My son’s only has EFC as well. He has a tab for COA, but nothing is there.
@CCmomto3–same boat as you regarding the FAFSA and (alleged) lack of need, but the reported COA is $55,982 on mine. Yours is a bit higher–$57,382? I assumed it would be the same for everyone. Perhaps different amounts for different programs applied to? Perhaps they adjust the costs of books etc, depending on the major? Who knows.
Again, I doubt having this COA means anything regarding admission for those you don’t have it yet. It was not there earlier this week while others seemed to have had it for a couple of weeks. Just a slow roll out of generic information.
@Qwazzy1941 - Interesting about the different COA: My son applied OOS for Nuclear Engineering.
Summary:
Books and Supplies
1,150.00
Federal Direct Loan Fees
66.00
Food and Household
4,660.00
Housing Costs
7,540.00
Miscellaneous
2,266.00
Travel
1,324.00
Tuition and Fees
40,376.00
Total
57,382.00
ETA: I found on the website that Engineering students are charged almost $1400 more for tuition. Mystery solved.
The difference is Tuition & Fees. Also OOS, but Computer Science–$38,976. Probably additional costs/fees with Nuclear engineering for labs, etc.
I don’t have COA 
When I go to the financial aid tab in student center, it just says something about making a request. Am I looking in the right spot for Coa and efc? If so, what am I supposed to do on the request section?
@StretchySilver I can only see the Financial Aid information on the computer. The mobile version just shows the Request Action tab. I had never tried the mobile version until now so I didn’t realize it was different.
Any chance decisions come out today?
@StretchySilver, it is in the financial aid section on the applicant homepage. When I click on it, it pulls up a Need Summary calculation.
Estimated Cost of Attendance (COA) ($55,982) - Expected Family Contribution (EFC) ($X) = Estimated need - Educational Resources - Total Aid.
There are tabs on the side that break out COA and EFC into separate calculations. The EFC matches the FAFSA amount that was specifically determined for each student. The COA should be the same for each student (depending on the major), I think.
I am not sure what your request question means on your portal. Maybe you did not apply for aid yet? Or maybe they just haven’t gotten to yours yet? Perhaps your FAFSA was not sent to UW yet? Did you direct FAFSA to send a copy of the report to UW? I am sure you could call the Financial Aid Office and ask to confirm they have received everything. Otherwise it may be listed as a task to be completed on your portal.
Again, I don’t think having this or not having this means anything regarding acceptance, so don’t panic. Usually Financial Aid and Admissions are two separate branches that may communicate some but each are tasked with different items. Just because Financial Aid ran a calculation does not mean that Admissions has decided one way or another. Financial Aid is just running numbers based on objective, numerical criteria (except for perhaps certain scholarships or merit aid at some private schools). I believe that federal government requires each school to post a COA/net price calculator for full disclosure.
Admissions is looking at each student holistically separate and apart from need at most schools. When Admissions has decided, they likely don’t want the prospective students to have to wait for the number crunching, so Financial Aid probably just runs the calculation for everyone, so the decisions can be posted as soon as possible.
@College2024 I think the general consensus is Friday…in the evening.
Yup, it’s gonna be this Friday evening… Bummer! I wish it was sooner…
Does anyone know what time the decisions came out last year?
I think around 8pm EST
Speaking from experience, son is a Class of 2023 Badger - an exciting time for all those holding their breath this week! I would put my money on Friday, 5pm CST if it follows suit as it did last year. It is a good memory as we gathered around the dinner table and read his acceptance. Good luck to all families and students!
Do you remember if you noticed any portal changes before acceptance? Many others have COA details in their financial aid tab now. I have nothing except Family/student contribution. I am OOS - not sure if that makes a difference. I know I should just not worry and wait!
@khgh2020 Don’t overthink any changes on the portal. They don’t mean anything, but all of the previous years had the same type of posts trying to read into everything. You’ll likely hear on Friday night, so hang in there.