Costs, Scholarships & Financial Aid

We will work with you to identify an off-campus study option that fits your needs - and your budget.
Check out the scholarships available for off-campus study!

Cost

The cost of off-campus study varies by program. When you complete the Cost Estimate Request Form, Off-Campus Study staff will send a detailed cost estimate for your program of interest to the Financial Aid Office, where staff will personalize it to indicate whether your current financial aid will apply to the program or not, so that you can review the full and out of pocket cost of the program in your particular circumstances. If you have any questions about the cost estimates, please contact the Off-Campus Study office in the CSO.

Fee Structure
Off-Campus Study participants will be assessed tuition, room and board, and all other costs associated with the program of your choice, as well as a $490 administrative fee. The cost estimate for your program will indicate which costs will be billed through Alma College and appear on your student account (usually tuition, as well as room and board when those are provided by the program), and what costs you should expect to pay directly while you are off-campus (e.g. airfare).

External aid, including federal aid or external (non-Alma) scholarships, may be used for off-campus study. State aid may only be applied for those students paying Alma College tuition (exchange programs and WLC majors completing language programs, per the criteria below). For the purposes of state and federal financial aid, you will continue to be enrolled as a full-time student at Alma while you are off-campus on an approved program. Alma College scholarships and grants (including tuition exchange) may only be applied if the off-campus study program is a requirement for the completion of your degree program (e.g. if you are a declared Modern Language major) - see below for details.

A Note to World Languages and Cultures Majors:

If you have declared a language major and you are planning to study off-campus to fulfill your program’s off-campus study requirement, you may opt to either:

Pay Alma College tuition for your semester abroad and apply any Alma College scholarships and grants, as well as state financial aid
Pay the tuition of the program of your choice, without applying Alma College scholarships and grants or state financial aid

Federal financial aid, may be applied to off-campus study in either case.

Room and Board Fees for Off-Campus Study

For most programs, room and board fees are billed through Alma College and will appear on your student account in place of your Alma College room and board. Some programs do not include room and/or board in their fees billed to Alma College. For example, the Philadelphia Center semester program assists with finding housing, but students pay the property owner directly for rent, and buy and prepare meals on their own or with their roommates. Another example is the University of Otago, New Zealand, where housing choices are on-campus (where Alma College would be invoiced for room), or private flats (where students pay the landlord directly for their rent). In these situations, the approximate cost of the room and board is figured in to the student’s financial aid packet, and the Student Financial Assistance staff advises students if and how they can expect to receive their financial aid money to pay their room and board.

Financial Aid

The Program Cost Estimate that you receive from Financial Aid after submitting the Cost Estimate Request Form will include personal financial aid information. If you have any questions about your financial aid, please discuss them with the Financial Aid Office.