Cost of Attendance Estimator

The .NET Financial Aid Estimator project includes a utility for easily estimating cost of attendance. To use this feature, complete the following steps:

1. Download the latest binaries
2. Reference Ucsb.Sa.FinAid.AidEstimation.dll
3. Reference Ucsb.Sa.FinAid.AidEstimation.Utility.dll

Create an XML file (AidEstimationConstants.1718.xml) using the following format:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<constants>

  <!-- COST OF ATTENDANCE -->

  <constant name="CoaUndergraduateOffCampus">
    <values>
      <value name="Tuition and Fees" description="Includes cost of education, university health care, and miscellaneous university fees">1234</value>
      <value name="Room and Board" description="Includes rent, food, and utilities">5678</value>
      <value name="Books and Supplies" description="Includes books and supplies">9123</value>
      <value name="Other Expenses" description="Includes transportation, loan fees, and miscellaneous personal expenses">4567</value>
    </values>
  </constant>

  <constant name="CoaUndergraduateOnCampus">
    <values>
      <value name="Tuition and Fees" description="Includes cost of education, university health care, and miscellaneous university fees">1234</value>
      <value name="Room and Board" description="Includes rent, food, and utilities">5678</value>
      <value name="Books and Supplies" description="Includes books and supplies">9123</value>
      <value name="Other Expenses" description="Includes transportation, loan fees, and miscellaneous personal expenses">4567</value>
    </values>
  </constant>

  <constant name="CoaUndergraduateCommuter">
    <values>
      <value name="Tuition and Fees" description="Includes cost of education, university health care, and miscellaneous university fees">1234</value>
      <value name="Room and Board" description="Includes rent, food, and utilities">5678</value>
      <value name="Books and Supplies" description="Includes books and supplies">9123</value>
      <value name="Other Expenses" description="Includes transportation, loan fees, and miscellaneous personal expenses">4567</value>
    </values>
  </constant>

  <constant name="CoaGraduateOffCampus">
    <values>
      <value name="Tuition and Fees" description="Includes cost of education, university health care, and miscellaneous university fees">1234</value>
      <value name="Room and Board" description="Includes rent, food, and utilities">5678</value>
      <value name="Books and Supplies" description="Includes books and supplies">9123</value>
      <value name="Other Expenses" description="Includes transportation, loan fees, and miscellaneous personal expenses">4567</value>
    </values>
  </constant>

  <constant name="CoaGraduateOnCampus">
    <values>
      <value name="Tuition and Fees" description="Includes cost of education, university health care, and miscellaneous university fees">1234</value>
      <value name="Room and Board" description="Includes rent, food, and utilities">5678</value>
      <value name="Books and Supplies" description="Includes books and supplies">9123</value>
      <value name="Other Expenses" description="Includes transportation, loan fees, and miscellaneous personal expenses">4567</value>
    </values>
  </constant>

  <constant name="CoaGraduateCommuter">
    <values>
      <value name="Tuition and Fees" description="Includes cost of education, university health care, and miscellaneous university fees">1234</value>
      <value name="Room and Board" description="Includes rent, food, and utilities">5678</value>
      <value name="Books and Supplies" description="Includes books and supplies">9123</value>
      <value name="Other Expenses" description="Includes transportation, loan fees, and miscellaneous personal expenses">4567</value>
    </values>
  </constant>

  <!-- OUT OF STATE FEES -->
  
  <constant name="OutOfStateFees">
    <value>5879</value>
  </constant>

</constants>

Add the following to the appSettings section in your Web.config:

<add key="AidEstimation.Constants.1718" value="~/App_Data/AidEstimationConstants.1718.xml" />

You can now use the cost of attendance estimator:

CostOfAttendanceEstimator coaEstimator = CostOfAttendanceEstimatorConfigurationManager.GetCostOfAttendanceEstimator("1718");
CostOfAttendance coa = coaEstimator.GetCostOfAttendance(EducationLevel.Undergraduate, HousingOption.OffCampus);

CostOfAttendanceItem item = coa.Items[0];

Response.Write(item.Name); // "Tuition and Fees"
Response.Write(item.Description); // "Includes cost of education, university health care, and miscellaneous university fees"
Response.Write(item.Value); // "1234"