FSA Reminder: COA Information Must Be Readily Available to Enrolled and Perspective Students

The Department of Education is reminding Title IV  institutions of their responsibility to make their cost of attendance (COA) information readily available for prospective and current students in accordance with federal regulations.

What should the COA include?

Cost of attendances should include the following items:

1. Tuition and fees charged to students
2. Estimates of costs for books and supplies
3. Estimates of typical charges for room and board
4. Estimates of transportation costs
5. Any additional or miscellaneous costs.

What practices violate COA requirements?

Recent investigations and secret shopping operations by FSA have uncovered the following violations:

1. Refusing to provide prospective students with the COA over the phone
2. Requiring that prospective students could obtain the COA through on-campus visits
3. Webpages that require prospective student so to provide identifying information to access the COA

Anyone who encounters potential violations of COA requirements from an institution should report their experiences to FSA through visiting Ed.gov/FSATips or emailing FSATips@ed.gov. FSA will continue to monitor any credible allegations of COA violations and will test institutions’ compliance standards through secret shopping operations, which can result in fines or limitations on their Title IV participation.

SOURCE: (GENERAL-24-145) FSA Enforcement Bulletin, December 2024 – Institutions must make cost of attendance readily available to enrolled and prospective students