Cost of Attendance (COA)
The Cost of Attendance (COA), sometimes referred to as a student budget, is an estimate of the total amount of your educational expenses for the period of enrollment during the Award Year and is reflected on your financial aid Offer.
This information is provided to give you an estimate of the cost to attend UGA and to set a limit on the amount of financial aid you can receive during the academic year (which federal regulations require us to do). This means your actual expenses may be different from what's listed on your financial aid Offer, and the total amount of your aid—including scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study—can't exceed your total cost of attendance.
Your COA is based on whether or not you are a Georgia resident, your program of study, and if you live on or off campus while attending the University. The COA initially assumes full-time enrollment for most programs and will be reduced if you enroll less than full-time. The COA includes estimates of tuition and fees, the average cost for books, course materials, supplies, and equipment, housing, food, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses.
Direct costs are those you can expect to pay through your student account at UGA. Indirect costs are costs incurred outside of UGA.
The information below represents the COA for students in standard undergraduate and graduate programs on the Athens campus. Students in other undergraduate programs can click here (PDF), in other graduate and professional programs can click here (PDF), in executive graduate programs can click here (PDF), and in eRate programs can click here (PDF).
Additionally, if you would like a good estimate of what your direct charges will be at UGA, we recommend the UGA Bursar’s Estimated Cost Calculator, which can be found here (https://busfin.uga.edu/bursar/bursar_quick_links/).
* If you live on campus in East Campus Village an additional $1,282 will be added to your housing cost for the year (Fall & Spring semester).
** Tuition for graduate students reflects a weighted average of the Standard Rate for Master & PhD candidates. Certain programs, such as Pharmacy (PharmD), Business Administration (MBA), Law (JD), Social Work (MSW), and Veterinary Medicine (DVM) for instance, may have a different rate. Please see the Tuition & Fees section of the Bursar's website for information on a specific program.
Students with dependent care, computer or study abroad expenses should contact OSFA to document allowable expenses which may serve to increase their COA. Students awarded Federal Direct Loan(s) also have an average of the mandatory loan fees automatically added to their COA.
Students with disability-related expenses may contact OSFA to have their additional expenses considered. Disability-related expenses include but are not limited to: personal assistance, equipment, and supplies. OSFA may potentially include disability expenses in the COA that are not provided by other assisting agencies. OSFA may consult with the Disability Resource Center to confirm the average cost of such expenses.
OSFA will also include the one-time cost of obtaining the first professional credential in a field that requires licensure or certification. This cost must be incurred during a period of enrollment even if the exam is taken after the semester has ended.
Enrollment and COA Adjustments:
If you are an undergraduate student and you enroll in fewer than 7 hours in the Fall or Spring Semester, your COA may be recalculated using your actual enrollment status. If you are a graduate student and you enroll in fewer than 12 graduate hours in the Fall or Spring Semester, your COA may be recalculated using your actual enrollment status. This recalculation of your COA may result in a reduction of federal, state or University need-based assistance because financial aid Awards which include any State or Federal need-based assistance cannot exceed COA or Estimated Financial Need (EFN).
Enrollment Less Than Half-Time:
The COA for students enrolled less than half-time includes only tuition, fees, Books, course materials, supplies, and equipment, and transportation (no miscellaneous and personal expenses). Housing & food costs can be not be included for more than three semesters of less-than-half-time enrollment and no more than two of the three semesters can be consecutive. COAs will be recalculated for less-than-half-time students.
Tuition and Fee Waivers:
Non-Resident (out-of-state) students receiving full or half out-of-state tuition waivers will be awarded using the Non-Resident COA with the equivalent monetary value of the full or half waiver reflected on their Award as a resource. The same policy applies to graduate & professional students receiving waivers of GA Resident (in-state) tuition.
Plan Your Expenses: