ROLLINS LIFE

A COST OF LIVING GUIDE

WELCOME TO AN OVERVIEW OF HOW TO AFFORD A GRADUATE SCHOOL EDUCATION. Funding graduate education is not like undergraduate funding. Awards are not based upon parental income. As such, there is very limited need-based funding available.

Scholarships and awards are packaged during the financial aid process in March. For that reason, we encourage you to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), even if you may not have qualified for aid during your undergraduate program.

Be sure to apply early. We use the FAFSA to award our signature Rollins Earn and Learn (REAL) grants and the small number of need-based awards we have available.

Financial aid eligibility is determined by official cost-of-attendance estimates, but schools differ dramatically in how they assemble these estimates. Emory University computes the estimated cost- of-living figures based on the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) and the Indexes of Comparative Costs, both produced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Although many universities utilize the low range of this survey, Emory uses the moderate cost-of-living numbers to allow students maximum financial aid eligibility. Many students’ expenses are well below these estimates, as described in this guide.