In the previous financial aid post, we defined COA (Cost of Attendance). This is the dollar figure that college financial aid offices use to help calculate your need by figuring out the approximate cost to attend for a single school year (remember: COA-EFC=Need).

What do schools consider in this COA calculation?

• Tuition
• Room
• Board
• School Fees
• Books
• School Supplies
• Travel
• Personal Expenses

This list includes both direct costs and indirect costs.

Direct Costs:

Costs that the institution bills directly to families (e.g., tuition). These are sometimes called Billable Costs.

Indirect Costs:

Costs that the student will have while at college but that will not be paid directly to the institution (e.g., books, travel, personal expenses, etc.)

When you are calculating how expensive college may be for your child. You should include all of these direct and indirect costs, too, and potentially even more. Before your student applies to a school, it’s important to understand what your actual outlay is likely to be based on your own individual circumstances. Schools use an average number to figure costs like travel and personal expenses, but you should try to be more exact.

For example, if your student will be bringing a car to campus, the school will not put car-related expenses into their financial aid calculation, but you should put it into yours. Will your student be traveling to and from campus multiple times per semester? Figure the cost per trip and include the number of estimated trips in your cost calculation. In short, project how your student will be living while attending college and tally up all the costs associated with that lifestyle.

Where do you find information on school costs? Schools will generally provide tuition information on their websites, and many schools will include an estimated cost of attendance, too. Visit each school’s website that your child is interested in, and if the school provides an estimated COA, use it as a starting point to calculate your costs.

It’s no secret that college costs a lot. Yet, families still experience sticker shock when the reality of attending college and all of its related expenses hits. Know what to expect before your child goes. Set your budget, do your research on college costs, and estimate your child’s expenses based on his or her circumstances. Having this information will help you to make a more informed decision about which college to attend once the time comes to make that choice.

Andrea Aronson
College Admissions Counselor, Westfield, NJ

The post Financial Aid Primer: #3. The Real Cost of College first appeared on Great College Advice.

So, following is a brief “cheat sheet” with key acronyms along with their explanations.

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) 

As mentioned in the previous financial aid blog post, the FAFSA is the first step in applying for financial aid. The application requires basic financial information that helps college financial aid offices decide what your need is and how much federal aid you should receive. The on-line application can be found at www.fafsa.gov and becomes available on January 1^st of the year of matriculation.

FAFSA PIN

Before filling out your FAFSA application, the student and parent must first get a personal identification number (PIN). You can get this PIN by going to www.pin.ed.gov.

CSS PROFILE

A form required by selected colleges and universities which requests more detailed financial information to supplement the data provided on the FAFSA. While the FAFSA is used to determine the awarding of federal aid. The PROFILE is used to assess the allocation of institutional aid (funds from the school itself). The PROFILE is administered by The College Board, and can be accessed by going to www.profileonline.collegeboard.com. Note that not all schools ask for submission of the PROFILE. Many simply rely on the FAFSA for their information, and in some cases, schools will ask you to fill out their own proprietary form in place of the PROFILE.

SAR (Student Aid Report) 

All students who file a FAFSA will receive a SAR. The SAR reflects the information that the family provided on the FAFSA as well as what the government believes the family should provide to fund the student’s college education (EFC – see below).

ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record)

ISIRs are electronically transmitted to colleges and contain processed student information reported on the FAFSA. This is the equivalent of the SAR, but for colleges instead of students.

IDOC (Institutional Documentation Service)

IDOC is a service provided by The College Board that collects, scans, and bundles students’ financial aid supporting documentation and submits that information to participating colleges. Students will be notified by the institution to which they are applying if they should use the IDOC service.

EFC (Expected Family Contribution)

Using the financial information that is provided in the FAFSA by the family and employing a set federal methodology. The government determines the amount of money it feels the family can contribute to the student’s education. Based on this number, financial aid offices will then establish a student’s level of need and allocate (or not) additional federal funds to help pay for the student’s education. Institutions that use PROFILE, may determine a different EFC based on their own methodology for the awarding of institutional dollars.

COA or COE (Cost of Attendance or Cost of Education)

This is used by financial aid offices and represents the fully-loaded cost of attending college for one school year. It includes: tuition, room, board, books, supplies, travel, and personal expenses. The COA/COE is different at each institution and for each student, since individual student circumstances vary.

How do colleges establish the baseline for what your need is to attend their institution? Using the acronyms we just learned, it’s a very simple equation:

COA-EFC = NEED

Need-Based Aid:

This is aid awarded to students and families based on estimated need as established by information given either on the FAFSA or PROFILE.

Merit Aid

Colleges want to build their classes around certain types of students. Merit aid is awarded by colleges to students who they would like to have on campus because of their special abilities and characteristics. Colleges can decide to award merit aid for any number of reasons including academic, scholastic, and arts achievement. Some schools have clear guidelines about what it takes to earn a merit scholarships, but the awarding of merit aid is mostly unpredictable.

Gap

Not all schools are able to meet the full need of students as established by the FAFSA or PROFILE process. The “gap” is the amount of unmet need in the aid package between the Cost of Attendance and the Expected Family Contribution. If full need is met by a school, then the “gap” is zero.

NEED – AID PACKAGE = GAP

Professional Judgment

This refers to the authority of a school’s financial aid administrator to make adjustments to the data elements on the FAFSA and to override a student’s dependency status. The net affect of Professional Judgment may be an adjustment to the EFC which can ultimately alter the make-up of the financial aid award.

This list is a good start as we begin to dig a little further into the world of financial aid. Use it when you file for financial aid, and reference it as you read through future blog posts about financial aid.

Andrea Aronson
College Admissions Advisor, Westfield, NJ

The post Financial Aid Acronyms and Terms first appeared on Great College Advice.

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