How does financial aid work with living off-campus?
Moving off campus can be a new step to independence. This is a time when we all think we are ready to experience life without any restrictions about when we can come and go, what time the quiet hours are or how many people we can have over for a visit. However, living in the dorms teach us how to live with others, tolerate the intolerable and respect each other, so the way I look at it, dorm life is a very valuable lesson as well.
That being said, this is around the time of year when students want to know how living off campus is going to affect their financial aid.
When a student lives on campus, they can see their housing costs added to their student bill, right? When your aid comes in, it goes directly toward your student bill and pays everything posted on the account, including your housing.
Now, if you move into off-campus housing, the student dorm charges are not posted on your bill. Provided you have accepted enough in aid to cover your housing, it may provide a refund to pay your landlord off for the semester.
Most of the time if a student is living off-campus; they have minimized or opted out on the campus meal plan. However, you can still purchase a meal plan even though you are not living on campus. Feel free to talk to Dining Services at 970-351-2652 about meal plan options. Don’t forget to budget the costs of living on your own out of that budget as well.
It never hurts to put away some funds for rainy days or emergencies.
