<p>Most schools like ONE figure for “Room and Board” in their COA. UVa lists one figure for Room and another figure for Board. My daughter rents an expensive apartment which will exceed the “Room” figure. But she won’t use nearly the full “Board” figure for food. Do you think it’s acceptable to combine the two and reimburse myself from her 529 account for the full combined figure? Rather than limit the “Room” expenses to the COA figure for “Room”?</p>
<p>I am not sure but if my memory serves me well, we just used the number reported on the 1098-T form the college sent to us - I think only the tuitions and fees were included in that number. (The balance of our 529 account was not very large. We could easily use up all the money in that account. I believe we had used up all the money in our 529 well before our child was graduated - but our child attended a more expensive school.)</p>
<p>I have a similar question. My daughter has a single room which cost more. I assume I can use the amount billed. What about board? First semester she had a 8 meal plan and purchase food for the other meals. This semester she has no meal plan. Can I use the cost of the full meal plan as listed in COA for both semesters? In her case, the actual money spent would be lower that the COA but we also supply the bulk of her meals using food we purchased.</p>
<p>I believe you can use either the COA figures published by the college, or the actual costs if you want to keep a record. It’s easy to keep a record for rent, but food is not so easy. I do think you can mix and match. Ask your 529 administrator what you need to get the disbursement.</p>