Off-Campus Study

• All off-campus study programs must be pre-approved by Hamilton College in order to receive institutional financial aid. Should a student choose to attend a program that is not approved, they are only eligible to receive Title IV (federal) aid with the completion of a consortium agreement; institutional or state financial aid is not transferrable for programs unapproved by the College.
• Your total family contribution will remain the same unless the cost of attendance of the program exceeds Hamilton’s cost of attendance for a semester.
• The amount of your need-based financial aid is adjusted according to the cost of attendance of the program.
• Any student that owes an outstanding balance from prior semesters on their Hamilton account must have this balance paid before the student leaves for their off-campus study experience.
• After prior semester Hamilton balances have been paid and all financial aid disbursed, some students may have a credit balance. Students can contact the Student Accounts Office to request a refund to be used for non-billable off-campus study expenses.
• If an international student is studying off-campus on a non-Hamilton program to their home country, the full cost of the program must be funded in its entirety by the student and their family.

Total Family Contribution

Your calculated family contribution, which is the amount your family is expected to contribute for all costs associated with your education, will remain the same if the cost of the program is the same or less than the cost of attendance (COA) as Hamilton’s on-campus COA. If the cost of attendance of the program is higher than the COA on-campus, the expected family contribution will increase by the difference in the program costs.

Cost of Attendance

Estimates for the various costs associated with your term(s) are provided by your program and will include tuition, housing, food, fees, books and supplies, travel, and miscellaneous personal expenses (general expenses for college life including laundry, photocopying, toiletries, personal care, etc.). 

Financial Aid Award

Your total family contribution is subtracted from the total cost of attendance (determined by your program) when calculating your financial need. Your family contribution remains consistent and the amount of financial aid you receive will be adjusted according to your program’s cost of attendance. However, if the total cost of attendance of your program off-campus exceeds Hamilton's cost of attendance, your family contribution will be increased by that amount.

Non-Hamilton Scholarships

Many study away programs offered through colleges/universities other than Hamilton will offer students scholarships through their institution.  However, these “scholarships” typically represent an adjustment in the cost of the program, rather than funds received by the student or Hamilton that can be applied to reduce the work-study and loan portion of a student's financial aid award.  While students are required to report any scholarship or adjustment to their study away program costs, please be aware that often scholarships offered through a study away institution will likely not enhance a student's Hamilton Financial Aid Award, but will rather reduce a student's demonstrated need.    

Students receiving a scholarship from a Hamilton off-campus study program or an outside source must report the scholarship and amount to the Financial Aid Office and the scholarship may impact your financial aid award.

Work-Study

If you were originally offered work-study as part of your financial aid award, this will be replaced with additional student loan.

Consortium Agreement

If you are receiving financial aid or you are on the payment plan and would like to continue with the plan, you will need to complete a consortium agreement. This agreement allows the program to bill Hamilton directly for all billable costs and is required for transferring your Hamilton College financial aid for payments to your host school. The consortium agreement will be emailed to you once we receive your leave of absence notice.

Deposit

You are responsible for paying the program deposit.

Billing

Your scholarships, grants, loans, and payment plan will be credited to your Hamilton account.  Students receiving financial aid should forward any invoices directly to the Hamilton Financial Aid Office. The tuition and other costs (i.e., room) that are billed by your program will appear on your Hamilton account as well.  For non-Hamilton programs, please note that payments on your bill will appear as “Off-Campus Programs Tuition” (for tuition) and “Disbursement” (for room or other billed items).

For Hamilton’s programs in New York City and Washington, D.C., board (meals) is included in the cost of attendance on your award letter; however, you will not be billed for that amount. 

Additional Information

Please contact Diane Barrett (dbarrett@hamilton.edu, 315-859-4395) with additional questions relating to financial aid.

Access the Off-Campus Study website for general information about international and domestic programs.