Video Transcript – How to use the Bottom Line Estimator
Video Transcript
[Narrator]: Welcome to Boise State’s Bottom Line Estimator. This tool will help you understand your bottom-line cost of attending Boise State University for one year. Begin by logging into your myBoiseState account at my.boisestate.edu and selecting Bottom Line Estimator from the My Account tab. You can also type “estimator” in the search box. Remember, the bottom-line estimator provides you with a year’s worth of costs and scholarships, and while we hope this tool allows you to see a clearer picture of costs, it is still only an estimate.
The Bottom Line Estimator is broken into four sections: the first section, University Charges, shows the costs per year to attend Boise State without any financial aid or scholarships applied. This is the tuition for a full-time non-resident student. Housing and meal plan expenses depend on the housing assignment and meal plan that you select, but we have pre-populated these with Chafee A and B double and a mid-level meal plan. The other university expenses listed are one-time new student curriculum and ID card fees for first-year Boise State students. Don’t forget to think through your other expenses like transportation, books, and other personal expenses you may incur. Personal costs vary from student to student and can include anything from haircuts to parking passes.
Next, you will find any financial aid and scholarships that you have been awarded so far. Grants and loans are determined by your FAFSA and will be packaged on an ongoing basis through our Financial Aid Office. Any automatic scholarship that you are awarded such as our GEM, WUE, or Treasure will populate here along with any internal or external scholarships. The Calculated Results section is your estimated out-of-pocket cost or refund. The estimate in the red box is simply the total estimated university charges minus your estimated financial aid. You have the ability to populate each field with costs that you feel provide you with a more accurate estimate. For example, you may want to update the meal plan and housing options.
When you are done, you can then click “Download” from the summary page to export a PDF summary of your estimate. Remember, while we hope the Bottom Line Estimator allows you to see a clear financial picture, it is still only an estimate of your first year’s costs.