Can Financial Aid Pay For Room And Board

Your financial aid package is based on the total cost of college not just the bill you ll owe the school for tuition and on campus room and board.

Can financial aid pay for room and board.

How much you end up spending on room and board will vary greatly depending on the school you attend and how flexible you are in terms of your choice of housing. If you need additional money to pay for room and board you can look into applying for more financial aid housing assistance grants and scholarships or take out a student loan. The actual amount charged if the student lives in school owned or operated housing. But the amount of financial aid is reduced by a measure of your ability to pay so you are unlikely to get a completely free ride at any college even if you are very poor.

The average cost for room and board is 10 440 at public colleges and 11 890 a year a private institutions. Just as you can use scholarships to pay for tuition you can use scholarship money for living expenses as well. The average costs for room and board have been rising steadily over the years ranging from 7 500 to 9 000 per year depending on whether you re looking at public or private universities. Room and board typically includes housing meals and housekeeping of shared spaces like bathrooms and study rooms.

Financial aid is based on the full cost of college including room and board not just tuition and fees. The financial aid administrator is the one that will verify all of this for the federal student aid office when they determine your cost of attendance. Department of education will determine your own ability to pay for your college expenses. At the beginning of each semester the university will receive your financial aid and use it to pay tuition and fees and room and board.

If you receive a federal financial aid award this amount will be included in your award less your expected family contribution. The allowance for room and board is determined by the school and included in the cost of attendance for federal financial aid purposes. In most cases the university will work with you to find an affordable option. That can be just as much as the cost of tuition at some schools.

This estimate of what it would cost to pay for room and board is factored into your cost of attendance. The cost will typically be covered by financial aid. What some students may not realize is that room and board can oftentimes be just as expensive as tuition if not more.