Cost of Attendance vs. Billed Cost

The two terms above may seem confusing. The important thing to remember is that ‘billed cost’ is, as it sounds, the actual dollar figure that appears on your college billing statement. The ‘cost of attendance’ does include billed cost. In addition, it may include estimates for other items that are NOT part of the billed cost, such as costs for books and miscellaneous out-of-pocket expenses. If you don’t live in a residence hall or have a meal plan at the campus dining facility, there will still be a factor included in your ‘cost of attendance’ for room and board, even though you don’t pay us for room and board costs. This approach is to your advantage, since it allows us to consider additional sources of aid when setting up your aid package. To summarize:

  • Billed cost is what will be shown on your TUFW billing statement. It includes tuition & fees for all students, plus room and board if you live in a residence hall and/or have a meal plan to eat in the campus dining facility.
  • Cost of attendance includes billed cost, plus estimates for the cost of books, miscellaneous out-of-pocket costs, and an allowance for room and board if you do NOT live in a residence hall or buy a meal plan.

Note: You are allowed to ‘charge’ purchases of books and supplies from the TUFW Bookstore (NOT clothing or other items) to your student account. In this case, the books would become a ‘billed’ cost rather than an ‘estimated’ cost.