Cost of Attendance

Cost of attendance is the total estimated cost of a year at a school, tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation and personal expenses. Each institution calculates its own figure through its financial aid office, and it sets the ceiling for what athletic aid may cover.

Q. What does it include?

Tuition and fees, housing and meals, books and course materials, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses. The last two are why cost of attendance exceeds a traditional full scholarship.

Q. Who calculates it?

The school’s financial aid office, using the same methodology applied to all students. Athletics cannot set a separate figure, which is deliberate.

Q. How does it relate to a full scholarship?

A traditional full grant-in-aid covered tuition, fees, room, board and books. Full cost of attendance adds transportation and personal expenses, and schools have been permitted to cover the difference since 2015.

Q. Does it interact with revenue sharing?

Indirectly. Cost of attendance caps what athletic aid can cover; revenue sharing is separate compensation on top of it. Scholarship credits counting toward the cap are calculated from aid amounts, so the figures connect.