Calculating Eligibility

The Cost of Attendance is comprised of both direct costs (those billed directly by the university) and indirect costs (possible costs incurred by a student while attending school, but not billed by the university). 

The Cost of Attendance is also based on an academic year, your housing plans, and your anticipated enrollment status.  The total COA is not the amount due to the university. Please refer to your bill with the Office of Student Accounts for actual charges.

Your COA is the estimate of:

• tuition and fees;
• the cost of room and board (or living expenses for students who do not contract with the school for room and board); 
• the cost of books, supplies, transportation, loan fees, and miscellaneous educationally related expenses (such as a personal computer)

The Cost of Attendance is unique to each school to which you apply and is determined by each individual college or university. This is one reason you may be eligible for more financial aid at one school than another; it may cost more to attend the other school. The cost of attendance at Millersville University is based upon research done by University staff and students who review the costs annually to ensure they are realistic.

Your EFC is not the amount of money your family will have to pay for college, nor is it the amount of federal student aid you will receive. It is a number calculated by the FAFSA and used by your school to calculate how much financial aid you are eligible to receive. The EFC number is based on the information you report on the FAFSA and is calculated according to a formula established by law.

Your family's taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits (such as unemployment or Social Security) all could be considered in the formula. Also considered are your family size and the number of family members who will attend college or career school during the year. The EFC Formula guide shows exactly how an EFC is calculated.

One common misconception people have about the EFC is that it is the amount of the outstanding balance to be paid to the university for the year.  It is only used to determine amounts of eligibility for need-based and non-need-based financial aid programs.  It is NOT the amount you will pay the university for the year.  The outstanding balance of your bill and the EFC will likely differ. You will be responsible for the outstanding balance.

Need-based aid is financial aid that you can receive if you have financial need and meet other eligibility criteria. You can’t receive more need-based aid than the amount of your financial need. For instance, if your COA is $16,000 and your EFC is 12000, your financial need is $4,000; so you aren’t eligible for more than $4,000 in need-based aid.

The following are the need-based federal student aid programs:

• Federal Pell Grant
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
• Direct Subsidized Loan
• Federal Work-Study

Other types of need-based programs:

• PA State Grant
• Scholarships 

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To determine your financial need, your expected family contribution (EFC) is subtracted from the cost of attendance (COA).

   Cost of Attendance (COA)
-  Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
= Financial Need

Example: Joe Student is a Pennsylvania Resident who is entering his freshman year of college at Millersville University. He plans to live on-campus in the residence halls. Joe filed his FAFSA using his and his parents’ information since he is a dependent student. When he received his Student Aid Report (SAR) after completing the FAFSA, the EFC was listed at $5,342. We determine his financial need by the following figures:

Non-need-based aid is financial aid that is not based on your EFC. What matters is your COA and how much other assistance you’ve been awarded so far. For instance, if your COA is $16,000 and you’ve been awarded a total of $4,000 in need-based aid and private scholarships, you can get up to $12,000 in non-need-based aid.

The following are the non-need-based federal student aid programs:

• Direct Unsubsidized Loan
• Federal PLUS Loan

Other types of non-need-based aid programs

• Private/Alternative Student Loans
• Private/Alternative Parent Loans

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To determine how much non-need-based aid you can receive, use the following formula: 

   Cost of Attendance
-  All Other Financial Aid Awarded So Far*
= Remaining Eligibility for Non-need-based Aid

 

Example: Joe Student is a Pennsylvania Resident who is entering his freshman year of college at Millersville University. He plans to live on-campus in the residence halls. Joe filed his FAFSA using his and his parents’ information since he is a dependent student. When he received his Student Aid Report (SAR) after completing the FAFSA, the EFC was listed at $0 and Joe was offered combined federal aid of $11,315 and an outside scholarship for $1,000. We determine his remaining eligibility for non-need-based aid by the following figures:

Lyle Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 241

Office Hours:
Standard: Mon.-Fri. 8:00 am to 4:30 pm (mid-August to mid-May)                                                                Summer: Mon.-Fri. 8:00 am to 4:00 pm (mid-May to mid-August)

Call Center Hours:
Available by Phone: Mon.-Fri. 8:00am to 6:00pm 

Phone: 717-871-5100                           
Fax:  717-871-7980 
Email: fa.mail@millersville.edu

USPS Mailing Address:
Office of Financial Aid
Millersville University
P.O. Box 1002
Millersville, PA 17551-0302

Address for UPS/FedEx:
Office of Financial Aid
Lyle Hall, 2nd Floor
40 Dilworth Rd
Millersville, PA 17551-0302