Estimated Costs of Attending

The Cost of Attendance (COA), or budget, reflects the estimated costs associated with attending Green River College for the year. It includes allowances for estimated expenses of:

  • Tuition and fees which are charged per credit
  • Books, course materials, and required supplies
  • Living expenses (housing, food, and utilities)
  • Transportation
  • Miscellaneous personal expenses
  • Student loan fees (if you are getting federal student loans)
  • Professional license, certificate, or credential costs, if required by the program for employment in the field.

The following cost components can be added to your COA upon request:

  • Dependent care
  • Disability-related expenses
  • Study abroad expenses
  • Cooperative education costs

For more information about what expenses qualify for these additional components, please contact the Financial Aid Office.

The COA includes only a portion of living expenses related to the cost of attending college. The COA is not meant to reflect every expense a student or a student's family may incur. Green River’s COA, except for tuition, is set by the Washington Financial Aid Association (WFAA) every year. The cost of tuition is set by the state legislature.

Your SAI is subtracted from your COA and gives us your amount of need. That tells us how much need-based aid you might be able to get:

COA – SAI = Financial Need

Grants, tuition waivers, work study, subsidized loans, and some scholarships are considered need-based financial aid. Unsubsidized loans, private loans and third-party funding are not considered need based. Please see the Financial Aid Guide for additional details about different types of aid. Regardless of the type of aid, your total amount of funding for the year cannot exceed the annual cost of attendance.

Cost of Attendance is calculated based on several factors including your residency status, living arrangements, program level, and number of credits taken each term. Changes to these factors may dramatically affect your COA. It is important that you are aware that although your COA is usually shown as a 9-month (three quarters, October through June) amount, your quarterly COA will change significantly if you enroll in less than halftime (five or fewer credits). This change will also impact your annual COA, which can reduce how much aid you can receive in a year.

Here is an example of the quarterly 3-month COA for a student who is a Washington resident living off campus who is enrolled fulltime at the Associate’s level (100- and 200-level classes), as well as what their COA would be if they were only taking five credits for the term.

2025-2026 Cost of Attending

  Fulltime (12+ credits) Less Than Halftime (1-5 credits)
Tuition and Fees $1,829 $757
Books and Supplies $176 $44
Housing and Food $6,491 $0
Transportation $930 $465
Misc. $636 $0
Total $10,062 $1,266

Because the Department of Education does not allow for the inclusion of a housing allowance into your COA if you attend less than halftime, the amount of aid you can receive if you don’t take at least 6 credits each term can be significantly reduced.