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Keep Eligible Expenses in Mind in
Cost-of-Attendance Professional Judgment

Submitted by: Gene Logan, USA Funds Services

Financial-aid administrators can use professional judgment as a discretionary action to address unusual circumstances that affect a student’s ability to pay educational expenses.

Federal law specifies that “unusual circumstances” must be considered on a case-by-case basis and that the condition being addressed has differentiated an individual student from a defined group of students, rather than conditions that exist across a group.

As you consider adjusting a student’s Cost of Attendance (COA) for unusual educational expenses, you can refer to the table below to note the following categories in which you may make those adjustments, as well as documentation that may support those changes. Adjustments should be in excess of your school’s standard allowance and may include education-related expenses not already in your school’s standard COA.

Expenses	Examples of Acceptable Documentation
Tuition or fees not charged to the student population as a whole	Student’s account
Books-and-supplies expenses	Proof of out-of-pocket expenses or charges on the student’s account
Living expenses	Proof of out-of-pocket expenses
Student-loan fees	Documentation of actual fees charged
Transportation expenses	Proof of actual or estimated expenses
Dependent-care expenses	Proof of out-of-pocket expenses
Study-abroad expenses	Documented educational and living expenses associated with study abroad
Computer-purchase expenses	Proof of out-of-pocket expenses
Student-disability-related expenses	Proof of out-of-pocket expenses
Employment expenses related to cooperative-education programs	Proof of out-of-pocket expenses
Costs of obtaining first-professional credentials	Proof of one-time expense

You may also consider unusual circumstances in Expected Family Contribution, dependency-status override and loan eligibility.

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