Education
Cost of attendance, the figure aid is calculated against
It is not tuition. It includes housing, food, transport, books and personal costs, and schools differ in what they put in it.
Cost of attendance is the school's own estimate of what a year costs, and it is the figure aid is calculated against. Tuition and fees are part of it; so are housing, food, transport, books, equipment and personal expenses.
Schools publish different versions for different living arrangements, and the one that should apply is the one matching your actual plan. If the wrong version was used, that is worth raising with the aid office.
Two schools can differ more in what they include than in what they charge, which is another reason comparing tuition alone misleads. The published cost of attendance is the comparable figure.
Certain costs can sometimes be added on request — dependent care, disability-related expenses, a computer required for the programme. Whether that is possible is a question for the aid office, and asking costs nothing.
What to do next. Find the published cost of attendance for your programme and living situation, and confirm the right version was applied to your offer.
studentaid.gov outranks this page. Rules, figures and dates change
between academic years. This is written to help you read the official sources, not to
stand in front of them. Start there.
Nothing here is a determination. We cannot tell you what you qualify
for, and no website can. The programme and the office that runs it decide that, after
you apply.
Still have a question?
Describe what you are trying to work out and a member of the team will answer, or direct you to the office that makes the decision.