"Students and their families often focus on tuition and fees when budgeting for college. But there are costs that typically don’t appear on college bills, and they can add up — costs like books, laptop computers, transportation, and off-campus housing and meals," The New York Times reports. 

"These so-called indirect costs — expenses not paid directly to the institution, including rent for off-campus housing and payments for food outside a meal plan — can make up half or more of the cost of attending some colleges, and may trip up students from lower- and moderate-income families who aren’t anticipating them to be so expensive, concluded a report from uAspire, a nonprofit group that promotes college affordability.

... Justin Draeger, president and chief executive of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said compiling cost estimates was complex because students’ circumstances varied and colleges might use different sources to compile the information. Some colleges may conduct their own surveys, while others use federal statistics or rely on outside vendors to compute estimates.

'It's hard to write a hard-and-fast rule,' he said, but acknowledged that colleges 'can do better.'

This year, in particular, Mr. Draeger said, students may want to budget more than usual for moving expenses, if they move into a dorm but are then required to move out again if cases of coronavirus spike."

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 8/7/2020