Cost of Attendance
Institutions must publicly make available on any website that discusses tuition and fees a list of all of their Cost of Attendance elements.
The Cost of attendance (COA) is a budget for billable and non-billable expenses to attend Penn State for one academic year. Your COA is one determining factor of your financial aid eligibility.
In addition to tuition and fees, below are the other COA elements. These figures represent per semester costs for Fall or Spring. COA elements for Summer may be less than what appears on this chart based on length of student enrollment and number of credits.
| On Campus1 Without Dependents (per semester) | On Campus1 With Dependents (per semester) | Off Campus (per semester) | With Parent2 | |
| Food | $3,077 | $3,077 | $3,077 | $3,077 |
| Housing | $4,160 | $5,945 | $4,560 | $3,668 |
| Books, Course Materials, Supplies, and Equipment | $600 | $600 | $600 | $600 |
| Transportation | $1,046 | $1,046 | $1,046 | $1,046 |
| Miscellaneous | $1,464 | $1,464 | $1,464 | $1,464 |
1 On campus housing is not offered at every campus location.
2 With parent is only applicable to dependent students living at home with parent(s).
The COA figures provided above are for full-time enrollment and will be adjusted for less-than-half-time enrollment
Section 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), as amended, includes these additional allowable costs for qualifying students.
- Dependent care costs*
- Cost of obtaining a license, certification, or first professional credential
- Costs for study abroad programs
- Disability-related-expenses*
- Cooperative education program employment costs*
- Fees for federal student loans
An asterisk (*) indicates the need for the student to contact the Office of Student Aid to inquire about the additional cost allowance.
Tuition and fees rates apply regardless of the instructional mode (that is, whether in-person or otherwise) and will not be refunded in the event the instructional mode changes during the Academic Year.