Your cost of attendance (COA) is the total amount of expenses that allow you to attend school for an academic year. While each student’s costs may vary, whether you are charged in-state or out-of-state tuition typically has the biggest impact on the total. Common expenses included in calculating your COA are:
- Tuition and fees
- Housing (including utilities)
- Transportation
- Books and supplies
- Dependent care
- Meals
How Is My Cost of Attendance Determined?
Your school works with the U.S. Department of Education to provide data on school costs for each student each academic year. This information is stored in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS®), which we use to give you an estimated COA. This estimate is based on the average costs of a typical student and may not reflect your personal situation. Your COA can be higher or lower depending on factors such as enrollment status or personal expenses. If your school’s financial aid office provides you with a personalized COA, we recommend using those figures instead.
How Do I Know if I Qualify for In-State or Out-of-State Tuition?
This generally depends on the state you lived in before attending school:
- In-state tuition - Typically applies if you lived in the same state as your school before enrolling.
- Out-of-state tuition - Typically applies if you lived in a different state from your school before enrolling.