UM’s cost of attendance is now less than $1,200 away from reaching six figures.
15 universities have crossed the $100,000 threshold, according to The Washington Post. By reducing its estimates for transportation, books and other personal expenses, UM stayed off the list this year.
For the 2026-2027 academic year, UM raised undergraduate tuition by 4.5% from $63,456 to $66,312. Despite tuition rising nearly $3,000, the estimated total cost of attendance for students living on campus increased only $754.
Cost of attendance impacts financial aid
The cost of attendance is a central number used to determine a student’s financial need and the maximum amount of financial assistance they may receive.
The estimate combines direct expenses paid to UM, like tuition and on-campus housing, and indirect expenses such as books, transportation and personal purchases.
Under the federal formula, financial need is calculated by subtracting the Student Aid Index and other financial assistance from the cost of attendance.
So, if UM’s cost of attendance estimate is lower than what a student spends, those additional expenses may not be reflected in the standard calculation of their financial need.
But a higher cost of attendance doesn’t guarantee an equal increase in grants or scholarships.
Federal guidelines allow universities to use average expenses for groups of students instead of calculating every student’s exact costs. However, universities are expected to develop “appropriate and reasonable” estimates using methods such as student surveys, local housing costs and other relevant data.
Universities may also adjust a student’s cost of attendance on a case-by-case basis when documented circumstances make the standard estimate inaccurate.
Students say UM’s estimates fall short
Some students say the University’s estimates don’t reflect what it costs them to attend UM and live in Miami.
The difference is most visible in transportation. UM cut its transportation estimate by 61% from $2,040 to $800 for the academic year. That gives students an estimated transportation budget of approximately $100 per month.
Rylee Titoni, a sophomore studying marketing, spends approximately $2,040 each academic year on Uber rides alone, based on an average of three rides per week. That is more than twice the $800 transportation allowance included in UM’s cost of attendance estimate.
During roughly the same period, transportation prices in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area increased by 5.7% during the 12 months ending in June 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
UM’s estimates change differently than inflation
UM’s cost of attendance increased by more than $5,000 for the 2024-2025 academic year and rose by thousands of dollars again for 2025-2026.
This year, UM raised tuition by 4.5%. By comparison, overall prices in the Miami metropolitan area rose by 3.4% during the 12 months ending in June 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
UM’s tuition therefore increased 1.1 percentage points faster than local inflation.
Reductions this year may represent a reset after UM’s estimates rose significantly in previous years. The University may have recalculated those categories after determining that the estimates were higher than what the average student spent.
However, an average cannot reflect every student’s circumstances. Students living off campus may face similar differences between UM’s estimate and their actual expenses.
“The transportation estimate doesn’t feel realistic for students who have to fly home several times during the year,” Sophomore Brighton Watson said. “Even one round-trip flight can take up a large part of that budget, especially around holidays.”
In a statement to The Hurricane, the University said it reviews its cost estimates annually using multiple data sources and intends them to represent reasonable average expenses rather than the exact costs incurred by each student.
“The COA included both direct costs paid to the University and indirect costs paid to third parties,” the University said.
However, the statement didn’t identify the data sources used, explain if UM changed its calculator method or confirm if this year’s reduction was intended to correct estimates from previous years.
As UM prepares its cost-of-attendance estimate for next year, students will be watching to see whether the University explains how it calculates each expense and whether those estimates accurately reflect what students typically spend.