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Is there a reliable website that lists all legitimate educational expenses for a college student?

We all know about tuition, fees, meal plans, housing, laptops, textbooks, and school supplies being legitimate expenses. But is there a site (or any source) which lists all possible legitimate educational expenses for grants/scholarships? Would a cell phone, for example, be considered a legitimate educational expense? Thanks to all who help.

Public Comments

1. Listen.. once they hand over the cash, it is up to you what you spend it on. When you are offered a financial aid package, it will factor in your family's contribution and then how much you will need for expenses. These will include tuition and housing, basically. I got the same amount (because my parents were dirt poor) each year through loans and grants, and some years I lived in cheaper housing and had literally a thousand extra dollars after paying six months' rent. Another year when I lived in more expensive on campus housing I had barely enough to cover books! People I know throughout college bought some of the following things with their financial aid: -Moped -Laptop -Trip to New York (Albeit a cheap one) -Concert Tickets -Paid off credit card bill -Put money into retirement plan ETC. Now if you want to rationalize, many of those could be argued as a legitimate educational expense. But you can see most of them are not. The bottom line is, all that money that those people (or I) blew I am now paying on student loans for FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS, $200 a month at a time! So just keep that in mind, and be smart.