Financial Aid Basics - Part II
Financial aid is designed to augment family contributions, not replace them. To the extent that they are able, parents have the primary responsibility to pay for their dependent children's education. Students also have a responsibility to contribute to their educational costs. CLU endeavors to provide financial assistance to help students and families to make attendance at CLU affordable and fair. Each student and family is different - our commitment at CLU is to evaluate and aid each student fairly and equitably so that we may aid as many families as possible.
Costs for the 2008-2009 academic year are as follows:
| Tuition | $27,600 |
| Fees | $250 |
| Room & Board | $9,650 |
| DIRECT COSTS PAYABLE TO CLU | $37,500 |
| Books, Travel, Personal expenses (estimate based on state-wide student averages) |
$4,265 |
Since CLU is a private university, costs are the same for in-state and out-of-state students.
How Need is Determined
Peter, an applicant from San Diego, CA, filed the FAFSA on January 30th. His family received the Student Aid Report (SAR) by the second week of March. On the SAR, they learned that their Expected Family Contribution for Peter's freshman year of college is $15,000. Following this general equation:
Cost of Attendance - Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) = FINANCIAL NEED
The following would be true for Peter's family:
| Cost of Attendance (financial aid guidelines allow CLU to consider books, travel, and personal costs when awarding financial aid |
$41,765 |
| Expected Family Contribution (EFC) | – $15,000 |
| Financial Need | $26,765 |
Now that Peter's need has been determined, CLU will use need-based and/or non-need-based assistance to build his award. Using a combination of financial aid sources, CLU will build each student's financial aid award. Peter could also be eligible to receive scholarships, which may not be need-based.
