COA Policy

COA Budget Adjustments

When creating budgets for students, we are using averages for students with the same enrollment level, student level, campus, housing plans, etc.

It is in best practice that if we are adjusting a student's budget, we are no longer using the average amounts, rather actual amounts now. We cannot knowingly keep averages for some costs while using actual for others.

• Items that must be reviewed if an adjustment is being made:
• Tuition
• Fees (course fees, student fee, loan fees)
• Room
• Board

If you are making a change to a student's on-campus room cost (e.g., if they are in the most expensive dorm room, but were initially budgeted for the average amount) then you will need to be sure to review costs for tuition, fees, and board to use actual, billed amounts.

Choosing to overlook the other items could run the risk of masking an over-award. This will also help us determine if a student actually needs an increase to their budget. The overall budget based on average amounts may already exceed the overall actual amounts