Student Financial Services

Calculating Eligibility (Cost of Attendance)

• Based on where you said you would be living when you completed the FAFSA, you will be assigned one of two standard budgets known as the Cost of Attendance (COA), which is approved by the state Higher Education Coordinating Board. The budget amounts are listed in the chart below.
• Subtracted from your COA budget is your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which was determined when you submitted the FAFSA. The EFC is assigned based on how you answered certain questions on the FAFSA, which include income, assets, number of family members in your household and the number of people in your household who will be attending college.
• We take your assigned budget and subtract your EFC. The remaining amount is called your financial “need”.
• We are also required to subtract from your need any outside scholarships or educational funds you may get from some outside agencies, such as L & I and Worker Retraining programs.
• In most cases the aid you may be eligible for cannot be more than your “need” and can never be more than your budget or Cost of Attendance.
• We may award you with combination of grants, loans and/or workstudy.
• Depending on your eligibility, your grants may be limited to the cost of tuition/fees and books/supplies.
• We do not guarantee your “need” will be met with financial aid, and you may want to consider student loans or workstudy to help with the cost of attending college.
• Students with very low need (this usually means you have a high EFC), may not be eligible for grants and workstudy, but may be still be eligible for student loans.