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Does Financial Aid Cover Campus Housing?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | Nov. 7, 2012

Question: I was wondering (and praying) if financial aid would cover campus housing. My mother and I have been unemployed for over 5 years and living under my grandmother's roof. So we make 0 monthly. It is so very difficult to find a job where I am in NC. HORRIBLE. And the school I need and want to attend is out of state. Thank you for your help!

The good news: :-) When colleges compute financial aid, it is based on total "Cost of Attendance," and not on tuition alone. So your room & board, miscellaneous fees, and even travel to and from campus will be part of the aid formula. Note also that, at some colleges, students who are selected to be “Resident Advisors” receive free rooms and sometimes free board, too. (These Resident Advisor jobs, which may be called by different names at different schools, are typically reserved for juniors and seniors but sometimes sophomores are eligible as well. The positions are often very competitive. Good grades and, especially, involvement in extracurricular activities are usually weighted heavily in the selection process.)

The bad news: :-( Many colleges will not meet your full financial need or--if they do meet it--some of your "aid" may be in the form of loans that you must repay. While student loans have reasonable interest rates, you want to be careful not to graduate with too much debt. Thus, your best bet is to not set your sights on just one college alone. Instead, you should apply to several places—including in-state schools that might be most affordable. Then you can compare financial aid offers before making a final choice.

But, above all, you shouldn’t let your family’s low income keep you from attending college. You just have to be a savvy “shopper” in order to find the place that will meet your academic and personal preferences while also offering sufficient financial support to make it a realistic option.

(posted 11/7/2012)

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.