Change in Your Cost of Attendance Budget
- Every Columbia Student is assigned a yearly Cost of Attendance Budget. The budget is divided in half to determine your semester budget, half for fall and half for spring. The amount of financial aid, (grants, scholarships, and loans) that a student receives can not exceed their cost of attendance budget because of federal regulation.
- Example: A student's Cost of Attendance Budget is $32,000 for the year and receives $32,000 in financial aid for the year in grants, scholarships and loans. This particular student met their budget and does not have any room in their budget to receive additional aid because they received enough aid to cover their cost of attendance.
- Sometimes students in this situation incur additional educational expenses above their budget such as expenses for a Study Abroad program. Since there is no room left in this student's budget for additional funding, this student's budget could possibly be increased to include the study abroad charges. This would allow the student to seek additional funding such as a Private Loan for their education expense. If you believe your Cost of Attendance Budget should be increased because of educational expenses not included in your budget and you have no room in your budget for those expenses please contact an SFS Counselor to discuss your options at Customer Service Options.