Cost of Attendance and Other Confusing College Admission Terms
Last Updated on January 10, 2024 by Jill Schwitzgebel
So, I have been on college parent social media pages for close to eight years now. (Those parent pages probably deserve their own warning post another time! Update: wrote one! ) And each year, I am shocked that parents of incoming students don’t know some of the lingo with which I am so familiar, given my profession. But, I realize that there are many confusing college admission terms, partially because there are so many acronyms! As confusing as they may be, I believe it is absolutely essential that parents understand terminology before allowing their student to commit to something that could easily cost them six-figures over the next four years!
By far, I think the biggest confusion surrounds college financial aid terms. Make understanding these a priority!
Financial Terms
Cost of Attendance (COA)
Often, families think that the cost of attendance just means tuition, room, and board (meal plan). And in the past, that’s what some colleges did include as their Cost of Attendance.
However, the real cost of attendance includes tuition, room and board, transportation (to and from college) expenses, books and personal expenses. It is very important that when families look at the bottom line of how much colleges cost, they are comparing apples to apples. The US Department of Education has released guidance on just how colleges should compute the cost of attendance. One college may seem substantially more expensive than another if they’re including all the elements, compared to another college that is only including tuition, room and board.
Keep in mind that when you are looking at the total cost of attendance estimate by colleges, your transportation expenses could be more or less depending on your location, books could be more or less based on major, and everyone’s personal expenses will vary, as well.
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
This is the form that needs to be completed to be eligible for all federal financial aid, including subsidized student loans. Some colleges require it for scholarships, as well, even if you don’t plan to accept any federal aid.
Completing the FAFSA will generate the
SAR (Student Aid Report)
The SAR provides basic information about your eligibility for federal student aid. That information includes your
SAI (Student Aid Index Number)
New in 2024, this is an index number that a college’s financial aid office will use to determine how much aid that the student is eligible to receive. For those familiar with the term “EFC” previously, you can think of the SAI as a replacement for that, basically. The government removed the term term EFC when they overhauled the FAFSA. (You can find an article about what your EFC meant, here). A bit part of the rebranding is because too many believed that the EFC is the same thing as their…
College Financial Aid Package
Colleges will receive your SAR with the SAI for your student, after you have completed the FAFSA, which will tell colleges what a student’s financial need is. With the SAI, colleges will still use their own algorithm to allocate aid, based on many factors, which will vary by college. (In the past, the EFC caused misunderstanding, leading families to believe that is the dollar amount they would be paying.) After receiving an offer of admission, and completing the FAFSA, students will later receive the financial aid package that the college is offering to them. Sometimes, the financial aid offer is released almost in conjunction with the admission offer, but other times, it could be sent months later (if your student applied early).
Deposits
There are two types of deposits, and missing one or both of them can create a significant issue for future students. I find that many parents don’t realize that there are two separate deposits required for students planning to live on campus though, which can cause significant confusion when talking about making deposits.
Admission Deposit
This deposit is due May 1st, almost universally. This is the day that students have to commit to the college they plan to attend, and the deposit confirms that commitment to attend. It may or may not be refundable until a certain date.
Housing Deposit
This deposit is typically not refundable. And each college handles it a bit differently. Some colleges even require a housing deposit at the time of application if a student wants to be guaranteed to receive housing on campus, if admitted! At other colleges, the earlier students pay the housing deposit, the better their priority for receiving the housing they request. And at other colleges, that doesn’t matter at all, as long as the deposit is paid by the housing deposit deadline.
Admission Terms
First, you need to understand the three main rounds of admission.
Regular Decision (RD)
This is the way most students will apply, with application deadlines falling somewhere in December or January.
Within early admissions, there are both Early Action (EA) and Early Decision (ED) designations. Both will have deadlines usually around November, with applicants receiving their admissions decision earlier than with RD. The major difference is that ED is binding – if a student applies ED, they are signing a contract that they will attend that college, if admitted.
This is just as it sounds – decisions come in an as applications are received, first come, first served style. There may or may not be a final deadline to apply.
There is also some mix and match in those three categories. Some colleges will do rolling early admission. Some colleges will do selective early action, which is similar to ED, but without the binding commitment. Some colleges do both ED and EA.
It is also important to understand the way in which applications are reviewed for admissions.
Holistic Review
This is by far the most common way in which applications are reviewed for admission. It means that a college will use a combination of not only grades and coursework (and test scores if submitted), they will look at extracurriculars, recommendations, possibly interviews, and essays, when making an admissions decision.
Numeric Review
As you probably guessed, this just means that the college will look at objective items like grades, scores, and coursework when making their decision.
Application Terms
There are various types of applications used by colleges
The Common Application (Common App)
This is the most common application platform, used by 900 or so colleges.
The Coalition Application
This is used by fewer colleges, around 150. However, all colleges that accept this application have pledged to make college affordable for their admitted students. Some colleges do offer the option of applying via either the Common App and the Coalition App.
The Universal Application
This is much less common, used by some of the Ivies.
College Specific Application
As the name implies, the application is specific to just that school or group of schools. For instance, the University of California (UC) system has their own application. It’s not uncommon for colleges to have their own specific applications, but to also allow students to have the option use another application platform to apply instead. (There is no benefit to using one application over the other.)
Just about every college application will require an essay. This is also sometimes referred to as a personal statement, somewhere in the 500-700 word range.
In addition, some colleges also require essay supplements and/or short answers. These are additional questions or short essays, in addition to the main, longer one.
