Definition: Cost of Attendance (COA) is the total cost of attending a college for a period of one year.
COA is not the Direct Cost – Direct Costs are the charges that actually appear on the student account. Continue reading to learn more about Bethel College’s published COA.
Required Elements of Cost of Attendance:
- Tuition and Fees
- Books, Course Materials, Supplies and Equipment
- Living Expenses – Housing & Food Allowance
- Miscellaneous Personal Expenses
- Transportation
- Other Allowed Expenses
- How to Estimate the Cost to Attend (Net Cost)
Published Cost of Attendance
Cost of Attendance 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 costs and the current cost of attendance numbers are archived for one full year.
2023-2024 Cost of Attendance Budget
Tuition and Fees 2023-2024
A school can use either actual tuition or a weighted average based on enrollment when calculating the budget for tuition.
Bethel uses actual, full-time tuition for all undergraduate programs.
| Tuition | Semester | Annual Amount |
| Full – Time Tuition | $17,387 | $34,774 |
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.
Actual per credit hour tuition is located on our course and fee statement
Federal Student loan fees
An allowance for the cost of any Federal student loan fee, origination fee, or insurance premium charged to the student or the parent of the student. The amount is calculated by applying the origination fee to an average loan amount amongst the annual loan amounts for dependent and independent students.
Books, Course Materials, Supplies, and Equipment 2023-2024
Every three years the Office of Financial Aid conducts research of the amounts charged for books through a variety of research methods. The office uses this data to create the books, course materials, supplies and equipment budget.
| Books, Materials, Supplies and Equipment | Full Time Semester Amount |
| All programs | $1432 |
Living Expenses 2023-2024
The Department of Education is very specific concerning how colleges are to craft the Living Expense budget.
Housing:
For on campus residents, first-time Freshman are required to live in Haury Hall. For other residential students there are two residence hall options. Colleges are instructed to calculate a weighted total cost of all housing options on campus and then use the average cost.
For off campus residents, Bethel College uses Living Expense Budgets crafted by The College Board. This secondary research is based on 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. Bethel uses the amounts for the United States. The low budget is used for students who are dependent of their parents. The moderate budget is used for independent students. – https://professionals.collegeboard.org/higher-ed/financial-aid/living-expense/9-month
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, the 20-meal plan cost is used and then an amount is determined by the average cost of breakfast under Aladdin’s pricing as all students are required to obtain a meal plan. For one breakfast meal (the missing meal in the 20-meal plan option), the expense is: $7 per meal x 16 weeks = $112 per semester.
For off campus residents, Bethel College uses Living Expense Budgets crafted by The College Board described above under Housing to determine food expense.
| Living Expense Budgets | Full-Time Semester Amount |
| On Campus Food and Housing – FF | $4,953 |
| On Campus Food and Housing – Res | $5,362 |
| Off Campus Food and Housing – Dependent | $4,463 |
| Off Campus Food and Housing – Independent | $6,662 |
Actual Food and Housing costs for On Campus Residents is on the Schedule of Fees.
Miscellaneous Personal Expenses 2023-2024
The Miscellaneous category is intended to provide a reasonable budget for items such as clothing, personal maintenance, grooming aids, insurance and recreation. The allowance is designed to permit the student a moderate standard of living while attending college.
Bethel consults the Living Expense Budget resource from The College Board for this number. The low budget is used for students who are dependent of their parents and the moderate budget is used for independent students.
| Miscellaneous Personal Expenses | Full-time Semester Amount |
| Dependent Student Budget | $3,031 |
| Independent Student Budget | $4,525 |
Transportation 2023-2024
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.
Bethel uses The College Board’s Living Expense budget for this number. (See the living expenses area for a full explanation of this secondary research.) The low budget is used for students who are dependent of their parents and the moderate budget is used for independent students. Since Bethel is a residential campus, with services and instruction on campus, the transportation expense is half of the low budget amount.
| Transportation | Full-Time Semester Amount |
| Dependent Students – On Campus | $463 |
| Dependent Students – Off Campus | $926 |
| Independent Students | $1,383 |
Other Allowed Expenses 2023-2024
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:
All 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 in 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 child care 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.
Study Abroad Expenses:
When students plan on studying abroad, Bethel College 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, social work and nursing 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 data from each department and is communicated to students.
| Cost of First Professional Credential | Average Amount |
| First Nursing License/Professional Credential | $393 |
| First Social Work License/Professional Credential | $50 |
| First Teacher License/Professional Credential | $325 |
Estimating the Cost to Attend (Net Cost)
Net cost is the budgeted amount remaining after scholarships and grants have been subtracted from the total Cost of Attendance. Calculating net cost is easy.
- Write down the costs discussed above that apply to your situation and add them together to get a total for one semester,
- Multiply the total by the number of semesters you intend to enroll, and then
- Find your financial aid offer and subtract from the cost of attendance the year total of the scholarships and grants you have been offered
Then use this formula:
Cost of Attendance – Scholarships and Grants = Net Cost
Most people are more interested in what their actual account balance will be than their net cost to attend. The more popular actual costs/direct costs are listed on your financial aid notice. This notice has an initial net cost and estimated payment options for your account balance. This notice uses the following formula:
Direct Costs – Scholarships and Grants = Account Balance
Still having trouble? We are here to help! Please contact the Financial Aid Office to receive a detailed estimate of direct costs minus financial aid. The Federal Net Price Calculator will give you a rough idea of cost using COA in its calculations as opposed to direct costs. This is helpful to receive general information. But it would be in your best interest to receive an official financial aid offer from Bethel College before determining affordability.