My daughter is attending summer college classes this year. She lives off-campus. For her and my other children, I usually used the COA for the school to estimate room and board for 529 purposes. Her actual room and board costs were greater than the COA, but always felt safer just withdrawing the exact COA for qualified withdrawals from my 529 account. As COA numbers from schools are usually yearly (I assume for Fall and Spring semesters), I would divide the room and board COA in half for each semester (Fall and Spring). Given she is now taking a full summer load of classes, I’m not sure how much to withdraw from my 529 for room and board for her summer classes. Was thinking of pro-rating the COA number. Fall and Spring Semesters are 5 months. That leaves 2 months for the summer. So, maybe the summer room and board COA for the summer would be 2/5 of the COA of a regular semester. Any thoughts? What have others done?
Usually schools provide a COA for taking classes over the summer (look for rates for summer R&B). You can always call the school and ask where they provide that info.
Yes, this is exactly what I have done, with good results. If you can’t find COA info for summer classes on the school’s website, call the school and ask.
I looked and couldn’t find a COA statement for the summer. I only saw tuition rates. As for calling the school, I guess I could do that. To be honest, I always dread making such calls. I know I’m going to get someone who’s not going to understand why I need such information, etc, etc.
The Bursar’s office knows why you need the information… don’t worry!
I wouldn’t say I’m worried. I think anything I do here is fine as I doubt the IRS would question it.
I gave the school a call. The first thing they asked was did I Google it. After assuring them I tried and did not find it, I was told it probably doesn’t exist for the summer. The person did say they had a spreadsheet that she can cut and paste from that has some of this info on it and they can send that to me. In what she sent, there was a line for “fees/expenses”. I guess room and board could be under that, but it came in lower than my 40% calculation. I’m just going to use my 40% number for lack of anything better.
Contact the financial aid office. COA for living expenses for summer classes is set by the school’s financial aid office and is used to package summer aid eligibility. Email them with your question so that you have written documentation for your 529 withdrawal.