The Parent Contribution
The parent contribution is a central component to helping your child meet their educational expenses. While undergraduate costs can be significant, The College of Idaho's financial aid program can assist your family with these expenses. Our goal is to treat families equitably while still maintaining the flexibility to recognize unusual situations. When we review your family’s finances and calculate the parent contribution we make allowances for:
- Living expenses, based on household size
- Federal and state taxes
- Unusually high medical expenses
- Undergraduate college costs for siblings
- Private school tuition and college savings for younger siblings
We also consider your family’s assets, including home equity, savings, investments, and real estate, but not retirement accounts.
In cases of separation or divorce, we expect both parents to participate in paying for their student's education. We compute separate contributions for custodial and non-custodial parents.
Financing Parent Contributions
You have many options when it comes to financing educational costs. The best option varies with individual family situations. Some families choose to use their student’s federal student loan eligibility to help finance the expected parent contribution. See our information about federal loans for the student loan programs most commonly used. Some families prefer to do any borrowing in the parents' names, where the federal PLUS Loan is a good option.
Payment Options
Payment options, including online payments and interest-free payment plans, are detailed on the Cost to Attend page. Tuition payments are due August 15 for Fall and December 15 for Spring.
Parent Access to Student Records
Student records are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Under FERPA no College office may disclose any student’s information, including financial aid information, to parents or others unless the student provides written consent. Likewise, we will not share detailed parent information with the student or others without parent consent.