Woods College of Advancing Studies Undergraduate Financial Aid

How Need-Based Financial Aid is Determined

Boston College is committed to our philosophy of making education affordable, equitable, and accessible. We believe our role is as a partner in supplementing financial resources available to families as determined through the financial aid process.

Financial need is computed using both a federal and institutional calculation. The calculated contributions from both formulas are used to determine eligibility for financial aid funding. Boston College’s formula for institutional financial need is the difference between your tuition and fees less the calculated contribution. Boston College will meet 100% of institutional financial need with a combination of grants/scholarships, loans, and work-study.

Cost of Attendance

Summary of Costs

                        Full Time (12cr/sem)Half Time (6–8cr/sem)*
 Living with Parents/RelativesApartment**Living with Parents/RelativesApartment**
Direct Costs:
                         Tuition$15,120$15,120$10,080$10,080
                         Registration Fee$50$50$50$50
                        Billed Costs Subtotal$15,170$15,170$10,130$10,130
Indirect Costs
                        Housing $9,976 $9,976
                        Food$2,841$5,682$2,841$5,682
                        Books$1,250$1,250$625$625
                        Misc./Travel$2,200$2,000$2,200$2,000
                        Non-Billed Costs Subtotal$6,291$18,908$5,666$18,283
Total$21,461$34,078$15,796$​28,413

*In order to qualify for financial aid, you have to enroll in 6 or more credits.

**Assumes you are responsible for paying living costs in an apartment with roommates.

Direct and Indirect Costs

The cost of attendance (COA) provides an estimate of the costs associated with attending Boston College. There are two main categories of costs used when creating the cost of attendance: direct and indirect costs.

Direct (Billed) Costs

The cost of attendance includes costs that will appear on your bill—tuition, housing, food (if required) and fees. For students living off campus, your direct costs will include tuition and fees. When trying to determine financial responsibilities to Boston College each year, the direct costs are what will appear on your billing statement.

Your first bill for the academic year will likely include a charge for health insurance. Massachusetts law requires that every full-time and part-time student enrolled in a certificate, diploma or degree-granting program of higher education must participate in their school's Student Health Program or in a health benefit plan with comparable coverage. Students that have comparable coverage are able to waive the Boston College health plan by specific deadlines. For additional information on BC's health insurance plan and directions and deadlines to waive the insurance please visit dos5.net/medicalinsurance. The cost for the BC medical insurance for the 24–25 year is $4,281.

Indirect (Non-billed) Costs

The cost of attendance also includes costs that will not appear on your bill. Items included in this category are estimates for books, travel, and miscellaneous/personal expenses. For students that live off campus, an estimate for your housing and food costs will be included in your COA, and are considered indirect costs because you will not be billed by BC for those costs.

Loan fees will also be added when a family receives a federal parent or graduate PLUS loan.

Your cost of attendance will not match your bill because it includes indirect costs that are not billed by Boston College. Students must plan ahead and be prepared to pay for books and/or off-campus living expenses until the funds have been disbursed.

Cost of Attendance Glossary

To help understand the items included in Boston College’s cost of attendance, we have defined each element:

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Family Contribution

Boston College does not use the federal Student Aid Index (SAI) determined by the FAFSA to award institutional need-based grants/scholarships. We meet 100% of the need that is based on our determination of your institutional expected family contribution.

Expected Parental Contribution

Federal Methodology includes factors such as:

  • Income (prior-prior tax year)
  • Assets (excluding home equity, family-owned small business/farm equity)
  • Family size
  • Number of dependent children enrolled in college or graduate school


Institutional Methodology includes factors such as:

  • Income (prior-prior tax year)
  • Assets (including home equity, all business/farm equity)
  • Family size
  • Number of dependent children who are full-time undergraduates*
  • If parents are separated, divorced, or were never married, financial information for both biological parents is reviewed


*Boston College does not include graduate siblings in the number in college. Boston College verifies sibling enrollment each fall semester through the Sibling Enrollment Verification process.

Expected Student Contribution

Federal Methodology includes factors such as:

  • Income (prior-prior tax year)
  • Assets
  • Family size (if student is considered independent)
  • Number in college (if student is considered independent)


Institutional Methodology includes factors such as:

  • Income (prior-prior tax year) or minimum contribution*
  • Assets
  • Family size (if student is considered independent)
  • Number in college (if student is considered independent)
     

Constructing Financial Aid Awards

In order to create financial aid awards, we utilize your full cost of attendance for the federal evaluation. The institutional awards are based on the costs of tuition and fees. From that, we subtract your federal and institutional contributions to determine your eligibility for federal and institutional funding. This is what is known as financial need. Boston College is committed to meeting each student's full institutional need.

How to Apply for Financial Aid

Deadline for 2024–2025 Academic Year: Rolling

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Submitting Your Documents

Submit all required documents to 5pjk.dos5.net/finaidupload.

Please note that it will take 48–72 hours for your documents to be added to your financial aid file.


Please remember to write your assigned Eagle ID Number on every page of all documents you submit. 


Upload Limitations and Restrictions

  • File size is limited to 5 MB per document. If your document exceeds this size, consider the following:
    • Do not use a camera to create images of the documents
    • Do not attempt to upload color copies
    • Use a lower resolution setting when scanning documents
  • Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and .tiff documents are not acceptable. Conversion options are usually available for any file type that is not in an accepted file format.
  • Password-protected documents cannot be accepted

If you experience any issues while attempting to upload your documents, please contact the Office of Student Services at 1-800-294-0294 or at studentservices@dos5.net.


Documents may also be submitted to the following PO address as a secondary option:

Boston College Financial Aid Processing Center
PO Box 1482
Portsmouth, NH 03802   

Types of Aid

Frequently Asked Questions

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Contact

Financial Aid Counselor for Undergraduate WCAS

Deborah Gravel

Deborah Gravel

Associate Director, Federal, State, and Special Programs
Caseload T–Var, Undergraduate WCAS, Messina College



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Deborah Gravel

Deborah Gravel

Associate Director, Federal, State, and Special Programs

Caseload T–Var, Undergraduate WCAS, Messina College

For questions about undergraduate financial aid, please email studentservices@dos5.net for assistance.