Understanding Your Financial Aid Information
We understand it can be overwhelming to navigate the world of financial aid. We're here to help guide you through the process and make sense of your financial aid award offer.
Understanding Your Financial Aid Offer
The week of August 5, 2024, the financial aid portal is changing!
Why is the portal changing?
- To provide more informative and instructional details about the financial aid offered and the impact on costs
- Federal regulatory changes require certain consumer information be made available to students
What is changing?
- An individualized breakdown of the elements that make up your cost of attendance
- Financial Aid broken down into categories of grants, loans, and campus employment (if applicable)
- Information on estimated net costs and out of pocket costs that will be owed to Boston College
- Details on the differences between grants, loans, and campus employment
- Additional information about important next steps and how to adjust the financial aid offer or provide information about additional outside funding
- New look to the printable financial aid offer
What does all the new terminology on the new portal mean?
We have included a lot of new terms and details. Here is a deeper dive into what each term means:
Print
This term refers to the status of the current financial aid offer.
Conditional Status has two meanings:
- All undergraduate awards are listed as conditional until late May. The reason is that the final costs for the upcoming academic year are not determined until April, so the award is conditional because the award is based on estimated costs
- There is additional documentation required. Students can check their document status page for a breakdown of additional required information. (Some students may also need to provide a sibling enrollment or federal verification form. These documents are not added to the portal until July/August).
This area breaks down the individual items that comprise the students costs of attendance. The cost of attendance is an estimate of the costs a student may have for one year of attendance at Boston College. The cost of attendance is made up of two types of costs—direct and indirect:
- Directs Costs are items that will appear on the Boston College billing statement—tuition, fees, on-campus housing, on-campus meal plans (food).
- Please note, on-campus housing costs are billed by Boston College, but we use an average amount in our cost of attendance based on the type of housing.
- Indirect Costs are costs associated with attending college, but they are not billed by Boston College. This can include estimates for off-campus housing, off-campus food, books, travel, and miscellaneous/personal expenses.
- The amounts used for indirect costs are based on industry standard averages.
- The amounts used for indirect costs are based on industry standard averages.
The Cost of Attendance uses estimated direct costs until final costs are determined by the Board of Trustees each year in April.
Determined by subtracting all grants and scholarships offered (if applicable) from the direct costs in the Cost of Attendance. Students that are not offered any grants or scholarships will not see this box.
The amount provided is an estimate and should not be considered an official bill from Boston College. There are many billable items that cannot be added to the Cost of Attendance. The amounts displayed should be used as an estimated baseline or minimum of the potential costs for the year.
This is a regulatory-required component determined by subtracting all grant and scholarship aid from the full cost of attendance. The net costs factor in the indirect items included in your Cost of Attendance, so does not represent what will need to be paid to Boston College. Individual indirect costs can vary. Students that are not offered any grants or scholarships will not see this box.
Determined by subtracting all grant, scholarship, and loan funds offered from the direct costs in the Cost of Attendance.
The amount provided is an estimate and should not be considered an official bill from Boston College. There are many billable items that cannot be added to the Cost of Attendance. The amounts displayed should be used as an estimated baseline or minimum of the potential costs for the year.
Important Next Steps and Conditions
The Office of Student Services makes every effort to provide you with timely and accurate information regarding your offer. You will be notified via your BC email if a revision is made to your offer. We also reserve the right to modify or cancel your financial aid offer at any time during the academic year.
Enrollment Requirements
The financial aid for undergraduate students enrolled in the day program is based on the expectation of full-time enrollment (at least 12 credits). If a student is enrolling in fewer than 12 credits, it can impact the type and amount of financial aid offered.
Woods undergraduate and Graduate/Law students are awarded based on either self-reported credits or actual enrollment at that time. Changes in enrollment can impact financial aid eligibility.
Messina College students are expected to be enrolled in the number of credits specified by their program. Changes in enrollment can impact financial aid eligibility.
Federal Verification
The U.S. Department of Education will select certain FAFSA files for additional review. This additional review is known as verification. Students will be notified directly if they have been selected for verification and additional information will be required. The verification must be completed in order for students’ financial aid to finalized. The Department of Education can also select files throughout the year for verification. Our office will reach out to students that are selected after the start of the academic year to request the required information.
Sibling Enrollment Verification
Undergraduate students that report a sibling(s) enrolled in undergraduate program on their institutional financial aid application will be required to submit a sibling enrollment verification before the student’s financial aid can be finalized. If a student reported an enrolled sibling(s) and the sibling(s) decides to not enroll, change the type of institution (public vs. private; 2-year vs. 4-year), or are enrolled less than half time (6 credits), the financial aid may be adjusted. Similarly, if a sibling graduates from their undergraduate program while the student is enrolled at BC, eligibility for institutional funds will be impacted.
Direct Loan(s) Paperwork
In order to secure your Direct Loan (subsidized and unsubsidized), students must complete Federal Loan Entrance Counseling and a Master Promissory Note.
- Direct subsidized loans are federal loans made to eligible undergraduate students who have federal financial need. The student is responsible for interest when this loan enters repayment.
- Direct unsubsidized loans are federal loans made to eligible undergraduate and graduate students. This loan does not require federal financial need, but the student is responsible for interest once loan disburses.
Direct loans require a minimum of half-time enrollment (6 credits) for eligibility. For more detailed information on federal direct student loans, undergraduate students should visit the Undergraduate Types of Financial Aid page. Graduate students can find more information about graduate loans on the Graduate Types of Financial Aid page.
The Direct Loan entrance counseling and master promissory note can be found online at studentaid.gov. Hover over the top menu "Loans and Grants" and select the appropriate link. If you do not plan on accepting your Direct Loan(s), please decline the offer on the student portal.
Payment Plans
Boston College offers a wide variety of payment plan options for students and families. For more detailed information on our options, please visit the Billing page.
Payment Options
For detailed information on the various payment options, including loan opportunities for students and parents, please visit the Billing page.