You and your family should understand the combination of factors that determine your official 51Ó°ÔºUniversity aid package and costs. This allows you to know fully what will be expected of you financially, from freshman to senior year.

The Cost of Attendance (COA)

The Financial Aid office knows that college costs reach beyond tuition and living expenses.

Estimated Cost of Attendance (COA) at 51Ó°Ôº includes:

  • Tuition and fees based on enrollment status
  • Allowance for an average room and average board costs (student must be registered at least half-time)
  • Allowance for books and supplies for a student carrying the same academic workload
  • Allowance for transportation costs (student must be registered at least half-time)
  • Allowance for personal expenses (student must be registered at least half-time)
  • Average Federal Loan Fees (student must be registered at least half-time)

Student Aid Index (SAI)

The Student Aid Index (SAI) is an eligibility index number that our office uses to determine how much federal student aid you may receive in addition to university aid. This number results from the information that you provide on your FAFSA® form. This number is not a dollar amount of aid eligibility or what your family is expected to provide. A negative SAI indicates the student has a higher financial need.

If your FAFSA form is complete and fully processed, your estimated federal student aid and SAI will display under the “Eligibility Overview” tab of your online FAFSA Submission Summary. If your FAFSA Submission Summary indicates action required, your FAFSA Submission Summary won’t include your estimated federal student aid and SAI. Instead, your FAFSA Submission Summary will request information that you must provide before we can determine your eligibility for federal student aid.

Learn more about the SAI and other 

Need, Unmet Need and Unmet Cost

The Department of Education defines need as the difference between how much college costs and how much you can actually pay for it. The Financial Aid Office uses the following federal need-analysis formula to compute need for every student who applies for federal aid:

Cost of Attendance (COA)
- Student Aid Index (SAI)
Financial Need

51Ó°Ôº does not have sufficient funds to meet the calculated needs of all applicants. Your financial aid offer generally will not meet your entire calculated financial need because each federal aid program has annual and aggregate limits per student. The difference between the Financial Need and your financial aid offer is considered unmet need. This amount is added to the SAI to calculate what the student/family would be responsible for paying. Unmet Cost (of Attendance) is calculated by taking the Cost of Attendance (COA) and subtracting the financial aid. However, there are several options that families can consider to fill the unmet costs. Our financial aid staff would be glad to discuss them with you.

*Additional income and asset information from the CSS Profile may be used to determine financial need for institutional need-based assistance.

Use the to determine the estimated cost of attendance.