Edit Automated Awarding Cost of Attendance Options

You can edit the details of a Cost of Attendance (COA) budget on the Cost of Attendance Options tab of the Edit Automated Budget and Packaging Options form.

You can also award budget simulations. These simulations allow you to adjust different fee amounts for the credits taken by a student, based directly on the standard fee amount awarded to a student. These fee amounts are:

  • Fee Amount Per Credits
  • Fee Amount Per Enrollment/Program
  • Fee Amount Per Months
  • Fee Amount Per Payment Period

Selecting the Auto Repackage check box enables Simulation as a choice in the Repackage Method field. After choosing Simulation, you can adjust the dollar amount in the Fee Amount field. The student's total fee charge will be adjusted accordingly based on the number of credit hours they are registered for within the payment period.

The system performs calculations to ensure that the actual fee charge per credit hour is at a rate that is based on the corresponding percentage of the fee charged for a standard full-time course load. This simulation of charges can be performed in all Fees & Charges sections:

  • Common Fees & Charges
  • On Campus Residency Fees & Charges
  • Off Campus Residency Fees & Charges
  • With Parent Residency Fees & Charges

When the Allow Extended Budget advanced feature is enabled, all automated budgets will be added with a new column for Other Fee Priority. This column will provide “Other” fee types to be configured with a numerical "Other Fee Priority" from 0 – 8. The system will default a priority number based on the date last modified, and the oldest date will receive the earliest number up to 8. Any Other Fee beyond the numerical quantity of 8 will receive a priority of 0. Automated Awarding will not calculate a fee or its amount when the Other Fee Priority is a 0. Any student’s academic year that starts on or after the date the Allow Extended Budget advanced feature is enabled will not display the extended budget view of the 8 standard fee types and the 8 other fees. The Loan Period budget will also be presented as an extended budget view when the loan period starts on or after the date the Allow Extended Budget advanced feature is enabled.

Also, when the Allow Extended Budget advanced feature is enabled, you can manually edit and update the Name field for fees. This applies to Current and Future budgets and all fee types.

Prerequisites

You must have:

  • Common - Configuration - View authorization

  • Financial Aid Automation - Configuration - Automated Budget and Packaging Options - Edit, Save, and View authorization.

Access Method

Select the Configuration tile > expand Financial Aid > select Automated Budget and Packaging Options.

Procedure to Edit Automated Budget Packaging Options

  1. Under Automated Budget and Packaging Options, specify the values.

    CampusClosed The campus or campuses to which a person or item is assigned. It is filtered to display the campuses to which you have access. In some cases, it is also used to filter a list to only those items for the campus. In some lists, you can select more than one campus or select All. In lists that display columns, if the column contains more than one campus, you cannot sort or filter on that column.

    Program VersionsClosed Select a specific program version to narrow your search.

  2. Select the Apply Filters button.

  3. Review the following values in the results grid.

    Academic CalendarClosed The academic calendar. The values correspond to calendar options required by the Department of Education. They are non-standard terms, standard terms of quarters, standard terms of semesters, standard terms of trimesters, clock hours, and credit hours without terms. The default is the academic calendar configured for the program version. If you are configuring program versions from Financial Aid, the list is filtered to show the academic calendars appropriate for the Curriculum Standard selected when the program version was configured from Academic Records.

    Area of StudyClosed The various areas such as Major, Minor, or Concentration that the students have taken to complete their degree. The areas of study are configured by your institution.

    Award DisbursementClosed Used to configure the scheduled disbursement dates for all aid that has been awarded. You can select the following options: Scheduled Disbursement Days From Start of Payment Period or Scheduled Disbursement Using Configured Disbursement Scheduled.

    Award Level MethodologyClosed Configure the awarding up to the cost of either the Cost of Attendance or Institutional Charges.

    Award Loan FeesClosed Indicates whether fees apply to the loan award. Select Yes or No.

    CampusClosed The campus or campuses to which a person or item is assigned. It is filtered to display the campuses to which you have access. In some cases, it is also used to filter a list to only those items for the campus. In some lists, you can select more than one campus or select All. In lists that display columns, if the column contains more than one campus, you cannot sort or filter on that column.

    Date ModifiedClosed The date when the item was changed. On some pages, it also includes the timestamp for the time.

    Default COAClosed The selected COA configured by an administrator. The system uses this COA only and ignores all other when calculating and allocating a budget.

    Default Payment PeriodsClosed Payment periods configured in the Default COA.

    Modified ByClosed The name of the person who changed the item.

    Package by Award YearsClosed Indicates whether auto packaging applies to the Current award year or Multiple award years.

    Package by Academic YearsClosed Indicates whether auto packaging applies to a Single academic year or Multiple academic years.

    Payment MethodologyClosed The Payment Methodology that applies to the program version (ex. Credit Hrs Standard Term, Clock Hr/Credit Hr without terms, etc...).

    ProgramClosed The name of the program. Programs are configured by your institution.

    Program Version CodeClosed Code configured in the system for that program version.

    Repackaging TriggersClosed Triggers that will cause the auto-awarding process to award or recalculate a student financial aid award.

    Student Enrollment Status UsingClosed What to use in regard to the student enrollment: select Default COA, Packaged To, or Prior Completed Term.

    Student GroupClosed The name of the student group. If you are selecting a group and your institution has configured Anthology Student to limit groups to campuses, you can only select groups for the campus that you are assigned to. If you are selecting a group, it can also be filtered to display groups where you are the owner, public groups, and private groups where you have been given access.

    Title IV EligibleClosed A "Yes" indicates that the program version is configured as Title IV eligible. "No" indicates that the program version is not Title IV eligible. The column is read-only. Users can filter the results by using "Title IV Eligible" as the filter criteria. Users can hide/unhide this column.

  4. Select the link on a Program Version name.

    The Edit Automated Budget and Packaging Options form is displayed. The Campus, Program Version Code, Area of Study, and Student Group are displayed at the top of the form.

    The form always opens displaying whichever enrollment status is selected as the Default COA (you will see the Default COA check box selected). To work in an enrollment status other than the default COA, select the appropriate enrollment status tab located over the Default COA check box. The tabs are:

    • Full Time
    • Three-Quarter Time
    • Half Time
    • Less than Half Time

    Review the following values and edit as needed.

    COA Budget MethodologyClosed Which budget methodology to use with the COA: choose either: Current, Future, Past, or COA as of (and enter date in field to the right). Note that the date field is only enabled when you choose COA as of.

    Default HousingClosed The value in this field is used to automatically update the Housing field value if it is currently null for the award year(s) academic year form being awarded. Values available are: 'On Campus', 'Off Campus', or 'With Parent'. This Default Housing value within the Budget Packaging and Options form can be copied from one program version to one or more program versions.

    The date field to the right of COA Budget Methodology is enabled only when you select "COA as of" in the COA Budget Methodology field. Configure this field when enabled as necessary.

  5. If the Copy Current Default COA link is displayed below the Default COA check box, you can copy the current default enrollment status budget fields and replace any one or all the other current enrollment status budget(s). The link is only enabled for use on the Default COA. If you modify the Default COA prior to saving the updates, the hyperlink will allow you copy those updated field values to the other enrollment status budgets. When you save the program version budget, then all updates will be saved at that time. The link can be seen on the Past, Current, and Future COA Budget Methodology but it will only copy from the Current budget values into the enrollment status selected for that Current budget grid. The copy will not update the Past or Future budget values.

    When invoked, a pop-up dialog with the message "All copied Payment Period Effective Date(s), Common Fees, On Campus, Off Campus, and With Parents fees will overwrite all existing dates and fees within the Current Budget values”, lets you choose which enrollment status budgets should have the Default COA values to be copied to which other enrollment tabs, including Full Time, 3/4 Time, 1/2 Time, and Less Than Half Time budgets. You can select one, some, or all the statuses to be updated with the default COA budget values. All configured Current Cost of Attendance items from the Payment Period Effective Date, Common Fees, On Campus, Off Campus, and With Parents will be copied from the Default COA and updated onto the same program version's budget for the enrollment statuses selected.

  6. Five collapsible sections appear under the Default COA check box:

    • Payment Period and Effective Date
    • Common Fees & Charges
    • On Campus Residency Fees & Charges
    • Off Campus Residency Fees & Charges
    • With Parent Residency Fees & Charges

    Sections with configured fees and charges are expanded, with all columns visible. Sections with no configured fees and charges are collapsed. Select the chevron icon (Collapse icon) to expand a section.

  7. In the Payment Period and Effective Date section, edit the following fields as needed.

    Effective DateClosed The date the fee or charge is active.

    Effective Date TypeClosed Choose either Academic Year Start date, Enrollment date, or System date.

    In the grid below these fields, you can edit the Default Hours for listed payment periods by selecting in that field. You can add new Payment Periods by selecting Add in the toolbar. You can also remove configured Payment Periods by selecting the Payment Period in the grid and selecting Remove in the toolbar.

    When the Calculate button is selected to update a student's academic year budget and the automated budget's cost of attendance payment period configuration does not match the number of payment periods present in the academic year sequence term association configuration for that student's program version and start date, the following message is displayed: "Invalid number of payment periods between the automated budget and the program version's term association to calculate budget."

  8. Review the remaining four sections. If there are entries in any of the grids in these sections, review and edit the values as needed. The columns and fields are the same in all four sections:

    Effective DateClosed The date the status change is effective.

    Effective Date TypeClosed Choose either Academic Year Start date, Enrollment date, or System date.

    Fee AmountClosed The amount of the fee being charged to the student.

    Fee Amount PerClosed The frequency the fee is charged. It is charged per: Academic Year, Credit, Enrollment/Program, Month, or Payment Period.

    Fee TypeClosed The type of fee charged to the student (Room, books tuition, etc...).

    Institutional ChargeClosed Select the check box if the fee/charge is an institutional charge.

    NameClosed Name of the fee type. Note: You can manually edit and update the name field associated to the specific fee type (up to 40 characters maximum). This applies to Current and Future budgets and all fee types except for 'Other'. This editing functionality is only available when the Advanced Feature for 'Allow Extended Budget is enabled, as well as the 'Enable Advanced Feature for Auto Packaging'.

    Other Fee PriorityClosed Enter a value of 0 to 8. The Other Fee Priority order on the budget definition correlates to the individual student’s academic year budget line items. So, if the automated budget has fees as priority 1, 3, 5 and 7 then any student using that automated budget to calculate the cost of attendance will see the same Other Charges on lines 1, 3, 5, and 7.

    ProrateClosed Whether the charges should be prorated or not.

    Retroactive Date Closed If the charge or fee is a retroactive one, enter the date here.

    SequenceClosed Choose the sequence the fee is charged. Only selectable when the Fee Amount Per is 'Academic Year'.

    You can edit the Name field associated with the specific fee type (up to 40 characters). This applies to Current and Future budgets. The Automated Budget and Packaging Options form will use the budget fee type, not the fee's name, to determine if a fee is a duplicate fee or should be associated with the past, current, or future budget. This editing functionality is only available when the Advanced Features "Allow Extended Budget" and "Enable Advanced Feature for Auto Packaging" are enabled.

    Users working in Cost of Attendance Options can select a Repackage Method of "Allocate" in the Common Fees & Charges section. This enables you to configure a specific Budget Allocation for a selected Fee Type. Selecting within the Budget Allocation column opens the Budget Allocation pop-up form. Here you can choose a Distribution Type of either Credit Hour or Flat Rate. Then you can configure the credit amount range you wish for the allocation with a Low Credit Hour amount and a High Credit Hour amount. In the Flat Rate or Credit Hours column, you can then add the tuition amount to charge the student, either a per credit hour amount if Credit Hour is the selected Distribution Type, or a simple flat rate tuition amount if Flat Rate is the selected Distribution Type. Flat rates can be configured up to two decimals. The lowest range is 0.00 while the highest range is 9999.99 and the system includes all credit ranges to the exact decimal.

    An "Other Fee Priority" value of 0 means the fee will not be awarded to the students' AY budget for the extended budget view, but the standard budget view will sum this fee into the total AY budget. Having a priority value of 1-8 will determine in which field on the students' AY extended budget that fee will be presented.

  9. If you need to add any new fees or charges in any of the sections, select Add in the toolbar and select the Fee Type you wish to add:

    If the automated budget grid has filters applied and you select to Add in another fee, the filters will be cleared as well as all line items displayed in the grid.

    • Tuition
    • Fees
    • Books
    • Room
    • Board
    • Travel
    • Personal
    • Other
  10. After selecting the Fee Type, configure the fields appropriately (as you did in Step 7 above).

    To create a cost of attendance budget for an enrollment status that is not currently configured, select the tab of the enrollment status (Full Time, Three-Quarter Time, etc...) for which you wish to create a COA budget. All five of the sections below that enrollment status will be displayed in collapsed view. Configure all necessary field values starting at the top of the form. Follow the procedure starting in Step 4.

  1. If you want to save and: 

    • Continue making changes, select the Save button

    • Close, select the Save & Close button

  1. Select the AUTOMATED BUDGET AND PACKAGING OPTIONS link at the top of the page to return to the Automated Budget and Packaging Options form.