Cost of Attendance Adjustment...

[Corker]

Hey, I know they'll probably bump me to another thread, but I wanted to ask the allos this question...

Has anyone with kids had an increase in COA for daycare expenses and HOW MUCH specifically? Daycare for a three-year old (for all day) is at least $800 a month, plus the cost of before and after school for older kids. Total bill could be upwards of $1200 for multiple kids. Would a financial aid office possibly approve this amount to add to the budget to be covered in loans?

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[Johnny_D]

I am married with three kids and my wife stays home with them. I had to increase my student budget. If you don't know, your student budget is set by the school to cover tuition, books, insurance, living expenses, etc. I met with the director of financial aid and provided receipts showing how much my expenses would be. They increased my budget to cover these expenses.

So, you can do it, but it will mean more loans. For us, it just didn't make sense for my wife to work as child care would eat up most of what she would make.

Hope this helps.

 

[MadameLULU]

Moving to financial aid. I think you may find more help over there.

 

[linuxizer]

Would a financial aid office possibly approve this amount to add to the budget to be covered in loans?

When I interviewed at MSSM their financial aid officer said they had just graduated their first student with $300k in debt. At least there, they will give you as many loans as you actually need to live on. If you've got kids, that means more, easily.

Best,
Ari

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I know daycare is one of the special expenses where they can increase your budget to let you get more federal loans. How much, I'm not sure. I believe the allowance varies from school to school and would be based on local daycare costs.

 

[Corker]

Thank you for the responses.