Financial Aid Cost of attendance? Who comes up with this number?

[EMH]

While flipping through my financial aid booklet I found the estimated cost of attendance at UAMS in Little Rock AR. Living expenses are 14,000 for the 10 months of your freshman year. That means $1400 a month. I can't envision any way I can pay rent/bills/$200 car payment/food on this amount.

Some questions for SDNers:

Where does this living expense # come from?

Does anyone actually live on their schools estimated cost of living?

I've heard you can only barrow up to the cost of attendance, can you not get more past this?

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[deleted77919]

While flipping through my financial aid booklet I found the estimated cost of attendance at UAMS in Little Rock AR. Living expenses are 14,000 for the 10 months of your freshman year. That means $1400 a month. I can't envision any way I can pay rent/bills/$200 car payment/food on this amount.

I live on my school's total estimated budget, and in fact, slightly overborrowed. However, I am in NYC, so I live in a dorm, don't need a car, etc.

The estimated cost of attendance usually includes money for gas, but not for a car payment itself. Subtract out the car payment and all of your other bills (except water, internet, electricity, gas, and phone) and yes, you should be able to live modestly (this usually means sharing an apt).

 

[Yachtclub]

I don't know how much it costs to live in Little Rock these days, but trust me, 1400 goes farther than you think (as long as you don't have some sort of workout supplement addiction)

I spend about 1500 a month for everything (I have a roomate- it cuts costs big time), including going out, here in Atlanta. In college, 1400 seems like pennies, but the thing is, you're not going to spend 5 nights/week at the bar anymore, and actually grocery shopping (especially at Wal-Mart) saves big $$$.

Don't sweat it

 

[DoctorPLASTIC]

I don't know how much it costs to live in Little Rock these days, but trust me, 1400 goes farther than you think (as long as you don't have some sort of workout supplement addiction)

I spend about 1500 a month for everything (I have a roomate- it cuts costs big time), including going out, here in Atlanta. In college, 1400 seems like pennies, but the thing is, you're not going to spend 5 nights/week at the bar anymore, and actually grocery shopping (especially at Wal-Mart) saves big $$$.

Don't sweat it

Just dont buy their peanut butter!

 

[Yachtclub]

Really??? Is there something they're not telling me (aside from the sinister plot to take over the world that we're powerless to stop due to the lure of loooooowwwwwwww prices)?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

D@mn, that's chincy (sp). We get close to $18k our first year just for living expenses, and I think OKC and Little Rock are probably comparable in terms of cost of living. In fact, houses in Little Rock seem a little more expensive.

Do you get money for anything else like books, supplies, a computer, etc. You really can use all that money for living expenses, too, since you'll probably buy less of that stuff than your school budgets.

 

[EMH]

Do you get money for anything else like books, supplies, a computer, etc. You really can use all that money for living expenses, too, since you'll probably buy less of that stuff than your school budgets.

Yes they give you plenty for books (around $1,000) and you can get a one time increase for a PC purchase. I should mention I'm married with 3 kids, I wonder if that will get me a bump in living expenses.

 

[akpete]

We get ~$1000/month. It's pretty tight. That doesn't count the book/supplies budget, so whatever you can save on that can be put towards your living expenses.

My school insists on figuring the budget based on having a roommate, which I absolutely hate. I think that at 25-yo, I should be able to decide if I have a roommate or not without freaking out over the budget. The financial aid office sends out a survey every year, which they claim they base the budget off of. But they haven't changed the budget in a number of years. I think this is because students will do what they can to fit into the current budget, cutting out some spending if other prices, such as rent, go up. Therefore, the budget stays low even with inflation and increased cost on things like rent and gas.

 

[Critical Mass]

My school insists on figuring the budget based on having a roommate, which I absolutely hate. I think that at 25-yo, I should be able to decide if I have a roommate or not without freaking out over the budget.

That blows.

To answer the question in the title, methinks it's completely up to the school. The max Stafford is set by Uncle Sam, on the other hand, and I'm pretty sure that the $38,500 influences the decision at most places.

 

[JDUB44]

That blows.

To answer the question in the title, methinks it's completely up to the school. The max Stafford is set by Uncle Sam, on the other hand, and I'm pretty sure that the $38,500 influences the decision at most places.

The 38500 is for a 9 month curriculum, you can actually get up to like 42900 or something for an 11 or 12 month curriculum. At least this is what I got at kentucky.

 

[Arsenic]

moving to the fin aid forum

 

[Doctor Bagel]

That blows.

To answer the question in the title, methinks it's completely up to the school. The max Stafford is set by Uncle Sam, on the other hand, and I'm pretty sure that the $38,500 influences the decision at most places.

Well, if they were nice and modified their tuition with that number in mind, that'd be nice. Screwing your students by not letting them borrow what they need for living expenses isn't cool, though. IMO, the col loans should be based solely on col factors and not consider stafford limits at all. I agree that you're probably right that they do look at those, unfortunately.

Actually, when I was in law school, my school would only certify up to our stafford max, which was $18,500. Tuition was about $8500, so that left us with $10,000 for living expenses. That seems amazingly low to me now, but I didn't think about it then. Obviously they were determining col solely by the stafford max.

 

[Farmercyst]

Really??? Is there something they're not telling me (aside from the sinister plot to take over the world that we're powerless to stop due to the lure of loooooowwwwwwww prices)?

Yeah, ConAgra shipped Salmonella flavored peanut butter both Peter Pan and "Great Value" (Wal-mart brand) peanut butter to the greater southeast area.