Students and families, who understand a college’s cost of attendance, can better prepare for the expense.
For colleges and universities, providing cost of attendance information is an important compliance issue.
The Department of Education reminds Title-IV eligible schools in a December 2024 FSA Enforcement Bulletin that institutions must make cost of attendance information readily available to enrolled and prospective students.
Information that must be provided about the cost of attendance includes:
- tuition and fees charged to students;
- estimates of costs for books and supplies;
- estimates of typical charges for room and board;
- estimates of transportation costs; and
- any additional costs.
Through investigations and secret shopping operations conducted over the last year, Federal Student Aid (FSA) has identified conduct that could be a violation of 34 CFR 668.43. To let institutions know of this risk and to assist in compliance efforts, FSA provided some examples:
- Prospective students were not provided information on program costs over the phone. They were told they could obtain information on costs, grants, and scholarships if they came in for an on-campus visit.
- Prospective students, who had not started the enrollment process, were required to provide personally identifying information such as name, date of birth, and contact information in order to access information about the cost of attendance.
The bulletin reminds institutions that they must make the cost of attendance and other institutional and program information readily available to enrolled and prospective students and barriers or situations such as those provided in the examples could lead to non-compliance with the requirement.
Institutions are also reminded that they are responsible for maintaining a compliance system and policies, including internal controls, to detect and prevent non-compliance.
FSA monitors tips, complaints, lawsuits, and borrower defense to repayment applications from students, faculty, and staff who allege the institution hasn’t made the cost of attendance information readily available. FSA also uses secret shopper operations to test compliance with this regulation. Institutions that fail to comply may face administrative action by the Secretary, which may include a fine or the limiting of the institution’s participation in the Title IV programs.
Information about potential violations may be submitted by visiting Ed.gov/FSATips or by emailing FSATips@ed.gov.
