When you say "cost of attendance" do you mean when they send us estimates for the cost of living, transportation, etc? Or do you mean just tuition? Just clarifying because I was under the impression I could take out a little more than just tuition for help with bills during school. Also, when do they usually pay those loans out? For undergrad I remember watching my bank account for the deposit for what felt like an eternity
Cost of attendance (COA) includes money for tuition and living expenses - you can borrow less if you have savings or another source of income, but I would say most students end up taking out the full COA. It's meant to sustain you for the whole year without any extra income, but you CAN work or use savings or get money from family or a spouse if you want to take out less in loans!
Just went back and looked, looks like my loans were disbursed about mid-August and showed up in my direct deposit account a few days later, just before classes started. You'll be unlikely to have them early enough to use for your move-in fees of first/last/security, so I would look into alternative ways of financing that with the ability to pay it off with your loans. I worked full time for the 3 months before starting school & used that to finance my moving costs & move-in deposit.
