About Financial Aid Cost of Attendance Templates

Cost of attendance (COA) defines a student's expected expenses associated with attending an institution. Federal financial aid  uses cost of attendance in conjunction with information about the student to determine a student's eligibility for federal aid.

Prerequisites & Methodology

• The number of credits defining student half time and full time enrollment must be established on the semester dates maintenance for all semesters that are part of the award year (Admin > Semester Dates Maintenance)
• The Part Time code on the student's degree detail screen will use this code to determine eligibility for aid and for selecting the corresponding Pell schedule.
• If the cost of attendance is tied to major, the system refers to Major 1 (and only Major 1) on the student's current degree row
• Campus Cafe supplies updated Pell and Subsidized and Unsubsidized (Stafford) loan schedules.

Methodology

• Pell Grants are packaged by the student's EFC.
• Subsidized Loans are packaged based on remaining Need.
• Unsubsidized Loans are based on overall remaining Cost of Attendance and are not dependent on the remaining need constraint of the Subsidized loans.
• Calculations:
  • Total NEED = Total COA minus EFC
  • Remaining NEED = Total COA minus EFC minus Pell minus Sub
  • Remaining COA =  Total COA minus Pell minus Sub

Configuration

The cost of attendance requirements need to be configured to include or exclude certain elements on the Cost of Attendance Listing Page by using custom control FA_COA_KEY (Menu>Admin>Custom Control Maintenance).

Create Custom Named COA Rule for FA_COA_Key Parameter 6

In addition to Cost of Attendance rules based on the parameters listed above, institutions can establish a custom named COA rule for specific cohorts or types of students. If enabled, the rule itself must be applied on the student's packaging page and works in conjunction with any other rules that are enabled.  

Institutions can also have the Custom Named rule enabled without any of the other configurations enabled if applicable.

1. Navigate to Admin > STParm Maintenance
2. In the Parameter Code box enter "FCPKCR"
3. In the Parameter Value box type a short description (code) for the rule
4. Click Add; a new screen appears
5. In the Description box enter text that identifies the rule
6. In the Long Description box enter more detailed text that describes the rule
7. Click Save
8. Refresh the cache by navigating to Admin > Refresh Data Cache > reload data; then log back in.

Set Cost of Attendance

• Navigate to Student Financials > F/A Cost of Attendance
• Click New Code Note: Depending on configuration you choose may not see all these options.Award Year: The federal financial aid award year
  Major Code: The cost of attendance for a specific major; leave blank to apply to any major without a specified cost of attendance.
  (For students with multiple majors, the "Major 1" field on the currently active degree detail page is used for determining COA.)
  Start Date: If the cost of attendance changes within the award year, enter the date the cost of attendance is effective. The cost of attendance will apply to students with a degree start date equal to or later than this date provided the date falls within the award year.
  End Date: If the cost of attendance changes within the award year, enter the date the cost of attendance is no longer effective.
  Grade Level: The grade level corresponding to the grade level entered on the student's ISIR
  Part Time Code: The enrollment load (full time, three-quarter time, half time or less than half time) for which the cost of attendance applies; this is associated with the PT-Code on the student's degree detail screen.
  Student Site: The student site for which the cost of attendance applies on the student's degree detail screen.
  Named COA Rule: Assign a custom named Cost of Attendance Named Rule (e.g. cohorts, traditional, online, etc.)
  Tuition In State: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Tuition Out State: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Housing On Campus: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Housing Off Campus: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Housing With Parents: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Transportation On Campus: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Transportation Off Campus: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Transportation With Parents: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Misc On Campus: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Misc Off Campus: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Misc With Parents: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Books Equipment: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Fees: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Fees Out State: The dollar amount for this expense as defined by the institution
  Estimated Loan Fees: The dollar amount for this expense
• Click Create
• Repeat steps 2-3 for each discrete cost of attendance

Copy COA Setup to New Year

To copy your COA setup to a new year

1. Click "Copy Mode"
2. Select the current "Award Year"
3. Select new "Award Year"
4. Click Copy