Evaluating Your College Finances

Determining your costs for college is an essential step in planning for current costs and future debt. However, this is not always a straightforward process. While there are some standard costs that you can expect no matter what type of student you are, how you choose to navigate your IU experience will determine how much you will pay.

Before we discuss the specific steps involved in funding your education and paying your tuition, it's first important to take a holistic look at your expenses while considering a few ways that you can save.

Calculate your costs

We built the MoneySmarts calculator Links to an external site. to help you see how much school will cost you for that semester and then allow you to input your other expenses to help determine how much you will need to fund everything outside of the classroom. This way, you can begin to make some choices about what your particular path will look like.

Get started with the calculator by entering basic information about your semester plan, like the semester you're planning and how many credits you plan to take.

The calculator will then walk you through a series of pages focused on the following topics:

• Tuition and fees
• Books and Supplies
• Room and Board
• Transportation
• Personal expenses
• Funding

 

Tips for using the calculator 

(Download the Tips document Download Download the Tips document

for more ideas)

Tuition and Fees: Banded tuition at IU means that tuition cost is the same whether you are taking 12 credits up to 18 credits. You need at least 120 credits to graduate, so think about how you can get the most out of your tuition.

Books and Supplies: Textbooks are not cheap, but there are ways to make them less expensive. Follow links to locate what textbooks you'll need and see how cheaply you can find them.

Room and Board: You may be able to decide whether you will live on campus, off campus, or even continue living at home. Eating out? or eating in? Look at how much each option will cost you for the remainder of your career at IU.

Transportation and Personal Expenses: Can you avoid a car payment? Cut back on insurance, gas, or parking expenses? What other things are essential? Think about Netflix and other subscription services, clothes, haircuts, entertainment, phone, etc.

Funding:

• List all of your scholarships, grants, savings, and loans that you are using to fund your education.
• List your sources of work income and how much you expect to receive from them.

Once you have listed all of them, the calculator will let you know whether your financial situation is in good standing for the rest of the semester (indicated by “semester surplus”) or whether you still need additional funds (“semester shortfall”).

Even if you do have a shortfall, it is not necessarily an automatic sign that you should go out and find another job. There is research indicating that students who work more than 20 hours per week take longer to graduate (meaning college would cost more money) and are less likely to graduate at all. If you see a funding gap, contact the Office of Student Financial Services Links to an external site. to discuss your options.