The total annual cost of attending a specific college, including tuition, fees, room and board, books, and living expenses. The baseline that scholarship offers are measured against.
Cost of Attendance (COA) is the official total annual cost of attending a particular college — calculated by the school and published annually. It includes tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses.
Scholarship offers are expressed either as a dollar amount or as a percentage of COA. A "50% scholarship" means 50% of that school\'s COA — which varies enormously between a state university with $25,000 COA and a private school with $80,000 COA. Always compare offers by total dollars, not just by percentage.
Since 2015, NCAA D1 athletic scholarships have been allowed to cover the full COA — including the previously-uncovered personal expenses portion. This produced what\'s commonly called the "COA stipend" — additional cash to the athlete on top of tuition/room/board. The exact COA differs by school, so two D1 athletes on full scholarships at different schools receive different total amounts.
Every college publishes its COA on the financial aid page. Cross-reference any scholarship offer against the school\'s published COA before signing anything.