If you live off campus, or are considering it, we encourage you to visit the Off-Campus College website for news, listings and important information.
For many students, living off campus can be quite rewarding; however, it does present new responsibilities and challenges.
For financial aid purposes, your estimated cost of attendance consists of tuition and fees, room and board, books and personal expenses, regardless of whether you live on or off-campus. Only students living off-campus with a parent have a reduced cost of attendance.
Some may think off-campus living is less expensive. However, do not forget to factor in and consider all off-campus expenses such as rent, utilities, renter's insurance, phone charges, food, furnishings, cleaning supplies and transportation.
How it works
Financial aid funds (with the exception of Federal Work Study) are applied to your semester bill first. If you live in non-university housing, tuition and fees should be the only charges on your bill. If your financial aid is more than tuition and fees, you will be issued a refund at the beginning of each semester that can be used to pay for off-campus living expenses. Your financial aid for the academic year will be based on the 9 months you are enrolled for: typically fall and spring semesters. Therefore, any refunds received should be budgeted appropriately and are not intended to help meet summer expenses even though leases may run for a 12-month period.
A few tips when considering off-campus living
- Financial aid is not available to help with security deposits, first/last month's rent or covering rent during months that you are not enrolled in classes.
- Our office will not intercede in a mid-year attempt to break a campus housing contract or a lease.
- Refunds cannot be released until the first day of classes each semester – you will need to cover any rent that is owed before those refunds are released.
- If you are expecting to use your refund to help pay for rent, you may need to work closely with your landlord if the refund schedule is not matching your landlord's payment schedule.
- Financial aid is calculated using estimated housing and living expenses for the typical 9-month enrollment period.
- Calculate all expected costs of off-campus living, including trash fees, cable/phone/internet and utility costs.
- Visit the Off Campus College website
