Cost of Attendance

Your Cost of Attendance (COA) is the estimated cost for all the expenses you can expect during an academic period. Besides the cost of tuition, fees, housing and books, you will also have every day expenses such as food, clothing, entertainment, and household needs. When we figure your cost of attendance, we break it down into five categories:

• Tuition and Fees
• Room & Board (Rent)
  
• Books & Supplies
  
• Transportation
  
• Miscellaneous Expenses

Click here to see the actual amounts used to figure Cost of Attendance (pdf)

Most of these categories you are paying on a daily basis. For example, you are already paying transportation costs when you fill your car with gas or take the bus.

There are other costs that are also allowed, but not built into your budget unless you tell us that you need it and provide documentation.

• Child or Elder Care: If you are paying for child care or elder care so that you can attend school and have study time, please come to the financial aid office with copies of your care contract, or some recent receipts and contact information. We can work with you to include a reasonable allowance in your costs.
• Computer Purchase: This item can be included in your Cost of Attendance, but only once during your academic career. Bring a current receipt for a completed purchase to the financial aid office.

You may be wondering, where do we get these figures? Each year we survey our student community to make sure we are using real averages of real expenses incurred by real people.

Once your Cost of Attendance is figured, we use that number as the maximum amount of financial aid (grants, loans, and scholarships combined) that you can receive during an academic period. Once your Cost of Attendance has been calculated, we can award aid to you.

Keep in mind that financial aid is not meant to replace income from employment; it is meant to supplement your income to help you meet the Cost of Attendance. Also, even with financial aid, you may have an unavoidable gap between the aid we can offer to you and your actual costs. There are many ways to fill that gap including part time employment, personal resources and family assistance. You may also be eligible for scholarships from IPFW or earn a scholarship from your high school or community. By being creative and thrifty with your money, you may discover that you do not even need as much money as we have allowed. There are some great money management and budgeting tools available online at the Mapping Your Future website, and we have several resources available in the Financial Aid Office in Kettler Hall, Room 102.