Automated Budget and Packaging Options

You can manage, edit, and assign (apply) Cost of Attendance (COA) budgets to campuses, program versions, and/or areas of study, and/or study groups. The COA is the estimated amount that a student is expected to spend to complete a full year of college.

Institutions generally publish estimates for:

  • Tuition
  • Fees
  • Supplies
  • Books
  • Accommodation
  • Transportation
  • Personal expenses
  • Other (miscellaneous) expenses

You can configure the number of Payment Periods and Default hours and associate them with each enrollment status (Full Time, Three-Quarter Time, Half Time, and Less than Half Time).

  • Proration

    The Prorate check box will only be available for selection on Full Time enrollment status for items within the Common Fees and Charges section and on items within Fees and Charges based on Residency. Proration only takes place when the system determines that a Full Time COA budget needs to be allocated to a student. The budget configured within the full-time enrollment status will then be prorated as per the existing functionality and allocated to the student.

  • Default COA

    You must select a Default COA on the form. When Default COA is selected as enrollment Status criteria within the Select Enrollment Status Using field, the system calculates and allocates a budget configured against the Enrollment Status that is selected as Default COA. The system will not look at any other enrollment status from any other form and only resort to allocating the budget from the Default COA. If the system is unable to determine an enrollment status from Packaged To or Prior Completed Term criteria, the system will allocate a budget from the Default COA.

  • All effective dates on the Budget and Packaging form must be on or after the Automated Awarding Effective Date found in the Automated Campus Settings form.

Automated Budget and Packaging Options Display all Fees Configured for "Enrollment/Program"

The Automated Budget and Packaging Options master grid and the Cost of Attendance tab now display the configured budget fees (Name, Amount, Amount Per) for each program version and calculate the Amount Per for the Enrollment/Program for the Total Cost of Attendance per Enrollment/Program.

For Academic Calendars 1,2,3,4, and 6, the calculation takes the fee amount,

divided by the FA Program Version’s Total Credits,

divided by the FA Program Version’s Full Academic Year credits.

For Academic Calendar 5, the calculation takes the fee amount,

divided by the FA Program Version’s Total Hours,

divided by the FA Program Version’s Full Academic Year Hours.

The system calculates the Total amounts for the Current COA Budget (On campus, Off campus, or With parents) using the Amount Per unit based on the configuration of the Enrollment Status budget (not the Default COA Budget). The calculation uses standard rounding to a 2-decimal place number.

ClosedExample

An FA Program Version for Academic Calendar 2 with 3 payment periods and 9 months per academic year is configured as follows:

Total Credits: 72.00
Full Academic Year Credits: 36.00
Tuition per Enrollment/Program: $10,000

In this configuration, the Tuition fee amount for "Enrollment/Program Version" is divided by 2 so that Academic Year 1 is $5,000 and Academic Year 2 is $5,000.

Common Fees & Charges
Amount Per Calculation Amount per AY
$5.000,00 per Enrollment/Program 5000 / 2 $ 2,500.00
$100,00 per Credit 100 x 36 $3,600.00
$10,000,00 Academic Year   $10,000.00
Total Common Fees & Charges per AY   $16,100.00
On Campus Residency Fees & Charges
Amount Per Calculation Amount per AY
$500,00 per Month 500 x 9 $ 4,500.00
$1,000,00 per Payment Period 1000 x 3 $3,000.00
$4,000,00 per Enrollment/Program 4000 / 2 $ 2,000.00
Total Campus Residency Fees & Charges per AY   $9,500.00

Total COA – On Campus: $16,100+ $9,500 = $25,600

Automated Budget - Example

The calculation is also shown in the Automated Budget and Packaging Options master grid.

Budget Master grid - Example

Prerequisites

You must have:

  • Common - Configuration - View authorization

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

Access Method

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

Procedure to Manage Automated Budget and Packaging Options

  1. On the Automated Budget and Packaging Options form, 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. Results are listed in the grid. Review the following values.

    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.

    Direct Loan COA CalculationClosed Select Pell COA, AY COA, or None. The system automatically updates the Direct Loan Cost of Attendance field value during Auto Awarding when you select Pell COA or AY COA. Note: When the Advanced Feature for Enable Advanced Auto Packaging is disabled, this field appears in the Automated Campus Settings form. When the Advanced Feature for Enable Advanced Auto Packaging is enabled, this field appears in the Automated Budget and Packaging form.

    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 to which 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.

    The items displayed on the page depend on whether the following advanced features are enabled (see Configure Advanced Features for Anthology Student):

    • Enable Advanced Auto Packaging ClosedSee details.

    • Allow Extended Budget ClosedSee details.

    Bank fees can be added to Institutional Charges or the Cost of Attendance (COA) so that loan award funds can be used to cover the cost of those bank fees. The chart below shows the configuration functionality.

    Award Level Methodology Award Loans Fees Add Bank Fees to COA Awarding Result
    COA No No The gross amount is calculated to award total aid.
    The total gross amount will not exceed the COA.
    COA Yes No The net amount is calculated to award total aid.
    The total net amount will not exceed the COA.
    COA No Yes The gross amount is calculated to award total aid.
    The total gross amount will not exceed the COA.
    COA Yes Yes The gross amount is calculated to award total aid up to the COA plus the loan fees being awarded.
    Institutional Charges No No The gross amount is calculated to award total aid.
    The total gross amount will not exceed the Institutional Charges.
    Institutional Charges Yes No The net amount is calculated to award total aid.
    The total net amount will not exceed the Institutional Charges.
    Institutional Charges Yes Yes The net amount is calculated to award total aid.
    The total net amount will not exceed the Institutional Charges.
    Institutional Charges No Yes The gross amount is calculated to award total aid up to the Institutional Charges plus the loan fees being awarded.

    Add bank fees to COA when adding new loans is available within the Settings tile.

  4. If COA budgets are configured for a listed program version, select the expand icon () next to the program version to view a drop-down grid showing the specific details of that COA budget for that program version. Configured budgets are listed by their enrollment status (Full Time, Half Time, etc...). Select next to the enrollment status you wish to review. The following values are displayed.

    Current Effective DateClosed The date the fee or charge is active.

    Current On Campus Closed The current fee, charge or credit amount based on the student's On Campus residency.

    Current Off CampusClosed The current fee, charge or credit amount based on the student's Off Campus residency.

    Current With ParentClosed The current fee, charge or credit amount based on the student's residency with their parents.

    Future Effective DateClosed Chosen date in the future that the fee or charge is active.

    Future On CampusClosed The future fee, charge or credit amount based on the student's On Campus residency.

    Future Off CampusClosed The future fee, charge or credit amount based on the student's Off Campus residency.

    Future with ParentClosed The future fee, charge or credit amount based on the student's residency with their parents.

    NameClosed Name of the fee type. Note: Eneter the name assocaited to the specific fee type (up to 40 characters maximum). This is only available when the Advanced Feature for 'Enable Advanced Feature for Auto Packaging'.

  5. To delete a program version from the results grid, select that program version and select Delete in the toolbar. This resets the program version (if the program version has no area of study and/or student group) and removes all configurations (if the program version has no area of study and/or student group).

    The following warning is displayed when you select Delete: "The selected program version budget and packaging options configuration will be permanently deleted. Removing this configuration for students may affect repackaging. Do you want to continue?"

    • If you select Yes, the program version configuration, including the area of study and/or student group configuration is deleted.

    • If you select No, no changes are made.

    When a configuration is deleted within the Budget and Packaging Options grid, the system does not delete previously assigned budgets that have been placed in the student's academic year.

  6. To copy and apply a COA budget to a single campus or multiple campuses, program version, area of study, or student group, select the COA budget in the grid and select Copy Budget and Options in the toolbar. The Copy Budget and Options form opens.

    When copying a current campus program version's budget to another campus or multiple other campuses, you may not see all the copied budgets on the grid until the filters are changed to display the budgets for the campus(es) you transferred them to. Additionally, you can only utilize the Copy Budget for Student Groups functionality for groups that are Active and not Expired.

    • If the copy is fully successful, the message "Copy of Budget and Options completed successfully" is displayed.

    • If the copy is both successful and not successful, a pop-up will give a single sentence with a list of the campuses that had the budget successfully copied and another sentence with a list of the campuses where the budget and options were not copied.

    • If the copy is not fully successful, a pop-up will give a single sentence with a list of the campuses where the budget and options were not copied.

    In the cases when a copy was not successful, a "Copy Text to Clipboard" link is provided in the message so the results can be copied and pasted into other documents.

  7. The selected COA Program Version and Campus are listed at the top of the form. Select values in the following fields.

    Areas of StudyClosed The areas of study you are applying the COA to - listed by Name and Code.

    CampusesClosed 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.

    Student GroupsClosed The student groups you are applying the selected COA to.

    To Program VersionsClosed The program versions you are applying the selected COA to.

    Select the Create all combinations check box to create different combinations of a COA budget for the same program version based on the Student Groups and Area of Study selections you made.

  8. Select Save or select Cancel to exit the form without saving.

When copying a current campus program version's budget to another campus or multiple other campuses, you may not see all the copied budgets on the grid until the filters are changed to display the budgets for the campus(es) you transferred them to.

To edit any of the COA budgets or the packaging options for the records listed in the grid, follow the procedures in the topics below: