We still don’t know what we’re doing. It leaves us about 8k over budget. 
Can we assume some of our costs at home will go down because the kid’s expenses (with some exceptions) are now in that COA? (Like we won’t be feeding him at home.) If so, then maybe not quite 8K. He can do the $5500 loan, and earn some from work…
We toured another school today. Similar in terms of reputation (I think), but it’s about 6k cheaper. It might be coming down to if we want to let the kid take loans or not.
I’m going to update this thread soon with the whole quandary: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1972471-budget-and-college-choice-please-share-your-thoughts-p1.html