<p>It is something that depends upon the college. Some colleges, those that built so many dorms and other residences that need to be occupied may refuse to subsidize this. For my one son’s college, the COA for those living off campus was higher than for those living on campus which was really peculiar to me since the dorm/apt rates were very high, and very cheap housing is available in that area. </p>
<p>The way it works is that all colleges have official COAs. (Cost of Attendance). They have to have them as that is what the federal government uses when maxing out the loans and aid they give. For instance, if someone want to borrow the full amount of PLUS (parent loan) for the year, the maximum amount would be that COA. It also comes into play when a student gets scholarships and other awards, as the federal government will not give loans subsidies, work study money, SEOG funds for any one who goes over that COA. So that is a number that exists.</p>
<p>Most every school has at least two COAs. For commuters who live with the parents, and for the student who lives on campus. It’s usually very simple freshman year, because that pretty much covers all of the first year kids. You either commute or live in the dorms. But in following years, it gets more complicated, because some students will move off campus in their own apartments, many upperclass dorm facilities at colleges tend to be suites, apartments and singles, and because some kids who dorm that first year may decide to commute thereafter. So there can be any number of COAs out there, …or not. Some schools will keep it simple and still maintain those two numbers, the COA for living on campus and for commuting. And so you are living on campus or you are not. The schools that do that are those that have to fill their own housing and guarantee to meet full need, so they do not want to pay financial aid funds for those kids living off campus as it is a double whammy for them to do so. Not filling their space and paying for the kid to live elsewhere. Nope. They don’t want to do it. </p>
<p>But other colleges will have separate COAs for freshmen in dorms, upper classmen on campus housing and off campus housing and commuters. Those schools that don’t meet full need most of the time don’t particularly care, but schools that do, are much more fastidiois in defining that COA since they guarantee to meet and have to do so.</p>
<p>So my long explanation comes down to the fact that you have to call the financial aid office and ask how they handle the situation of kids moving into off campus apartments. If it’s a school that tends to have a lot of kids doing this, the situation is probably that they either keep the COA the same and the aid package commensurate, or they have an Off campus COA that isn’t drastically different so it is not an issue for kids to do this. It would likely be a huge bone of contention that is well known on campus if the school cut aid for those who moved off campus and you won’t see as many kids doing it. </p>
<p>Be aware that most schools expect the student to take an increasingly larger role in paying for college each year, so the student EFC generally increases. That is reflected in the additional Stafford amounts that upperclassmen are permitted to borrow. So even as costs go up for a college, the aid tends to be reduced, at least the grant part, and this happens regardless of the housing situation. So, yes, I see grants reduced each year, and this is even at the most generous schools that ostensibly meet full need since nearly all of them define need including a mandatory student contribution.</p>