1. Speakers: Sandy Sarge, President, SARGE Advisors, LLC
At All Costs: Accurately Estimating and Disclosing Your Students’ Cost of Attendance
Speakers: Sandy Sarge, President, SARGE Advisors, LLC
Bruce Schneider, Director of Business Engineering, Ambassador Education Solutions

2. AGENDA Overview from a Federal Perspective Determining COA
Allowable Costs
Items that can impact COA
Best Practices to Stay Compliant

3. Overview from a Federal Perspective
The cost of attendance (COA) is determined by law (Higher Education Act, Sec. 472) and is not subject to regulation by the Department.
COA is the cornerstone of establishing a student’s financial need, because it sets a limit on the total aid that a student may receive for purposes of the TEACH Grant, Campus-Based programs, and Direct/Direct PLUS Loans, and is one of the basic components of the Pell Grant calculation.
COA or “budget” for a student is an estimate of that student’s educational expenses for the period of enrollment. Actual expenses may be higher or lower.
COA is not the bill that you may get from your college; it is the total amount it will cost you to go to college each year, before considering any financial aid.

4. Determining COA
Students must be awarded on the basis of a COA budget comprised of Allowable Costs assessed all students carrying the same academic workload.
You can use average expenses (for students with the same enrollment status) at your school, rather than actual expenses.
You can have different standard costs for different categories of students, such as a cost of attendance for out-of-state students (who have higher tuition) and a lower cost of attendance for in-state students.
Cost estimates should update at least once a year.

5. Allowable Costs Tuition and Fees –
Have separate COA’s for students carrying different academic workload or who are in programs with differing prices
Have different standard costs for different categories of students (in-state vs. out-of-state, but not TIV vs non-TIV or ground vs online)
Books, Supplies, Transportation, and Miscellaneous Personal Expenses –
Include only items directly related to the student’s expenses and not those for other family members
Monitoring textbook costs is critical to accurately estimating COA as pricing often changes with little notice from publisher
Room and Board –
Use set room and board prices, reasonable estimates for living at home or local area rental/utility costs

6. The trick is to ensure expense estimates are reasonable.
Allowable Costs – cont.
Dependent-Care Expenses – if applicable, should be based on hours spent in academic activities, the number and age of dependents and not exceed local area average costs
Study-Abroad Expenses – program must be approved for credit
Disability-Related Expenses – include only those not already covered by an agency
Employment Expenses for Cooperative Education
Student Loan Fees – can’t include financing charges for institutional funding arrangements, but can include private loan fees
The trick is to ensure expense estimates are reasonable.

7. Items that can impact COA
The COA for graduate and professional programs is usually higher than for undergraduate programs.
There are exceptions to consider:
Less-than-half-time enrollment
Correspondence study
Incarcerated students
Professional judgment
There are limitations to consider as well:
Tuition discounting
Overtime charges
Finance charges to use school funding
LTHT – can’t include misc. or personal expenses.
Corr Study – can only include tuition and fees which usually include books costs.
Incar studs – aren’t eligible for loans and if in state or fed penal, no PELL either
Prof jud – document, document, document

8. Best Practices to Stay Compliant
If a cost is not mentioned in the Allowable Costs categories found in Section 472 of the HEA, it cannot be included as COA.
This section of the law is the only source for COA components that can be included, but it’s the school’s responsibility to determine the appropriate and reasonable amounts.
Constructing different standard COA budgets for different categories of students helps ensure consistent treatment of all eligible aid recipients. Consider the following groups:
Year in School (undergraduate, graduate, professional)
Enrollment Status (full-time, ¾ time, ½ time, less than ½ time)
Permanent Residence (in-state vs, out-of-state)
School Residence (on campus, off campus, with parents)
Special Needs (dependent care, physical challenges, academic assistance)
Program of Study (special equipment, extra lab or travel costs)

9. Best Practices to Stay Compliant – cont.
It’s best to research a variety of data sources to arrive at reasonable, realistic figures for student expense budgets.
Can use professional judgement in determining the costs to include for a specific student, but be sure to document!
Because schools must communicate with many parties including students, consistency is a key factor – discrepancies between different communication portals/disclosures or inconsistent treatment of aid recipients leads to trouble.
Finally – remember that COA is just the first step in compliant packaging. Make sure to TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN. Your staff must be comfortable with many different student scenarios in order to package correctly.

10. Thank You Sandy Sarge Bruce Schneider 720-289-1870
President, SARGE Advisors, LLC
                                                                                                                                                                                                         
Bruce Schneider
Dir. of Business Engineering, Ambassador Education Solutions
(631) ext. 3037