Cost of Attendance

Cost of Attendance (COA) is the total cost of attending a college for a period of one year.

COA is NOT a Direct Cost – Direct Costs are the charges that appear on the student account.

Required Elements of COA:

• Tuition and Fees
• Books, Course, Materials, Supplies and Equipment
• Living Expenses
• Miscellaneous Personal Expenses
• Transportation
• Other Allowed Expenses
• How to Estimate the Cost to Attend (Net Cost)

Published Cost of Attendance:

COA budgets for the upcoming school year are updated and published in late January or early February each year. This website is updated with the new COA.

2024-25 COA Budget

2024-25 Tuition and Fees:

A school can use either actual tuition or a weighted average based on enrollment when calculation the budget for tuition.

Friends University uses actual, full-time tuition for all undergraduate programs. A weighted, full-time average is used for the graduate programs because they vary in cost per credit hour.

Tuition is charged as a flat rate for the residential campus undergraduate program where the large majority of our students attend full-time. The flat rate covers 12-18 credit hours. Students who enroll in less than 12 credit hours are charged by the credit hour. All other programs charge per credit hour.

Books, Course Materials, Supplies and Equipment for 2024-25:

The Office of Financial Aid conducts research of the amounts charged for books, which then the office uses the data to create the books, course materials, supplies and equipment budget.

2024-25 Living Expenses:

The Department of Education is very specific concerning how colleges are to create the Living Expense budget.

Housing:

For on campus residents, colleges are instructed to calculate a weighted total cost of all housing options on campus and then use the average cost or median cost – whichever is higher.

For off-campus residents, Friends University uses the Living Expense Budget created by the College Board. This secondary research is based on the data from the most recent years’ Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) which is produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Low and moderate budgets are developed for regions throughout the United States. Friends University uses the amounts for the Oklahoma City region. The low budget is used for both students who are dependent of their parents, and it is also used for independent students.

Food:

Colleges are asked to ensure that all food budgets are developed to cover 3 meals per day for 7 days a week.

For on-campus residents, Friends University used the meal plan cost at the university.

For off-campus residents, the number used is derived directly from the USDA food plans.

Actual Food and Housing costs for On-Campus Residents is located on the Friends University Residence Life site at https://www.friends.edu/student-life/residence-life/.

2024-25 Miscellaneous Personal Expenses:

The Miscellaneous category is intended to provide a reasonable budget for items such as clothing, personal maintenance, grooming aids and recreation. The allowance is designed to permit the student a moderate standard of living while attending college.

2024-25 Transportation:

A transportation allowance is included to account for a student’s travel expenses to and from school and to and from class. It is intended to be a reasonable cost for gas and maintenance on a previously owned vehicle or any kind of public transportation used to travel to college.

Other Allowed Expenses for 2024-25:

The Department of Education also provides for several optional components to a person’s individual cost of attendance. These are considered on request.

Personal Computer:

Students may request a one-time increase to their cost of attendance for the purchase of a personal computer up to $1,000 upon submission of a receipt of sale.

Dependent Care Expenses:

For a student with one or more dependents, the cost of attendance allowance can be increased for actual dependent care expenses if it is necessary for the student to place the children in care order to go to school. Students may request an increase for dependent expenses by providing documentation of the expense which can include invoices paid to a childcare provider.

Disability Related Allowance:

On request, students may request to have their cost of attendance allowance increased for expenses related to a student’s disability by providing documentation of the disability and the related expense.

Student Abroad Expenses:

When students plan on studying abroad, Friends University will increase the cost of attendance to include additional expenses related to the study abroad experience.

Cost of First Professional Credential:

For students entering the teaching profession, the one-time cost of obtaining the first professional credential in the field can be included in the cost of attendance by request. This allowance is an average based on cost information obtained from Friends University Education Department.