Your cost of attendance can include disability-related expenses that no other source pays for, and adding them can make room for more aid. Here is what tends to count, how to ask, and what the office needs to see.
Why the budget matters
Every aid package starts with the cost of attendance, the school's estimate of a year's tuition, fees, housing, food, books, transportation and personal costs. Aid cannot exceed that figure, so costs left out of it can limit what the office is able to offer.
Federal law lets the aid office add an allowance for expenses related to a student's disability. The standard budget leaves it out, so the office adds it when a student asks and shows the costs.
Costs worth listing
The allowance is meant for expenses tied to your disability that another source does not cover. Examples include screen readers, speech-to-text software, hearing devices, specialized equipment, personal assistance, accessible transportation, extra trips for treatment and medical costs your health plan does not pay.
Leave out anything already paid by vocational rehabilitation, a health plan, Medicaid or the college itself. Accommodations the school provides, such as captioning or a separate exam room, are part of its own duty and do not belong in your budget.
Aid cannot exceed that figure, so costs left out of it can limit what the office is able to offer.
How to ask
Write to the financial aid office and ask for a cost of attendance adjustment for disability-related expenses. List each item with its cost, attach receipts, quotes or invoices, and include a short letter from a provider or the disability office linking the expense to your disability.
The office reviews the request and decides what to add. Ask how long a review takes and whether the change covers the full year or one term, and send a new request if costs change partway through.
What a higher budget can do
A larger cost of attendance raises the ceiling for aid. The added room is often filled with loans or school aid rather than federal grants, and some offices also use the adjustment when awarding their own grants. Ask the office what a change would mean for your package before you borrow more.
Keep copies of the request and the decision. The same records help with VR, SSI reporting and next year's adjustment.
Steps to take
- List your disability-related expenses for the year
- Gather receipts, quotes and a supporting letter
- Email the aid office asking for a cost of attendance adjustment
- Ask what the change would mean for your package
Who decides
Your school's financial aid office
Disability costs enter your budget only when you ask, so bring the aid office a list, proof of each cost and a supporting letter.