Tuition and Fees

The Cost of Attendance is a topic many students, family members, and supporter want to know more about.

Cost of Attendance (COA) is an estimate of how much it will cost a student to live and attend school for a semester or a nine-month academic year. This estimate includes both direct and indirect costs of attending the university.

• Direct costs are expenses students pay to the university, such as tuition and fees and on-campus housing for example: Lynx Crossing. Direct costs will be billed to your MSU Denver account.
• Indirect costs are costs for educational-related expenses such as books and supplies, transportation, personal expenses, and off-campus housing and food. Indirect costs are not billed to your student account. However please note that this is an estimated cost and is not a bill as these are expenses that can be controlled by the students.

Tuition and Fees

The biggest cost of college is always going to be tuition and fees. This is a direct cost and depends on the number of credits the student registers for. There is a significant difference in cost if a student registers for 18 credits vs registering for 12 credits, even though they are both considered full time. For more information, visit the Tuition and Fees site.

Books and Supplies

Things like books and supplies are indirect costs for students, which means students can be more creative with how those expenses accumulate. Books and supplies will not be charged in their bill, which means students can access their books and supplies in various ways. Students can rent their books, buy their books, find pdfs of books as open resources on the internet, or find them in the library.

Room and Board/Housing

The same is true with housing and food. If a student is not paying for rent because they are living at home with parents, family members or supporters, a student can save money. Likewise, packing a lunch every day could limit additional expenses.

Health Insurance

Another direct cost is the University Health Insurance; every time a student register for at least nine credits or more, they will be charged for the university Health Insurance. For the Fall semester this cost is about $1,100 but for the Spring Semester it is about $1,600 because it covers both spring and summer. If students have their own health insurance (or are covered by family insurance), this fee can be waived by submitting a health insurance waiver through their student hub by providing their health insurance information each fall and spring semesters. Students will be able to access this form after they have registered for 9 credits or more.

Now that we understand where the costs of college come from, let’s explore the office at the university responsible for the handling of student bills.