My son is a full time student living off campus. His school publishes off campus Cost of Attendance numbers for Room and Board separately as opposed to a lump sum number. As an example, let’s say that for 2019-2020, the off campus COA is Room ($10,000) and Board ($5000).
IRS Pub 970 states:
The expense for room and board qualifies only to the extent that it isn't more than:
- The allowance for room and board, as determined by the school, that was included in the cost of attendance (for federal financial aid purposes) for a particular academic period and living arrangement of the student.
Pub 970 uses “room and board” as a collective figure, and I believe some schools publish one lump sum Room and Board figure. I understand that we must stick to the total COA allowance of $15,000. My question is this - can $15,000 be withdrawn and used collectively for rent and board,
or are we limited to $10,000 for rent and $5000 for board?
