College Financing Plan

Introduction

The College Financing Plan (CFP) is an optional federal tool you can use to compare your college cost and aid data and your Estimated Total Net Cost after grants/scholarships in a standardized federal format.  

If you choose to use it, please carefully follow these instructions.

Understanding the CFP Cost Data

The CFP is not an estimated Towson University bill. All costs are based on our standard Cost of Attendance budgets.

We offer several housing and meal plan options different prices. The campus housing estimated below are based on our Premium Housing rates, but most freshman who live on-campus live in our less expensive Multiple Occupancy rates. The meal plan costs are based on the average of our four meal plan options. For more details, see housing and meal plan rates.

For every college, the Net Costs amount on the CFP will be much higher than your college bill because in addition to estimated direct costs (tuition and fees, on-campus housing and food) it also includes allowances for other indirect costs that are usually not paid to your school, such as transportation, personal expenses, and off-campus housing and meal costs. 

Because these indirect costs allowances vary widely between schools, they can distort comparisons of each school’s Direct Costs. To avoid these distortions, we encourage you to compare the relative costs of your potential schools based on your estimated Net Direct Costs at each school instead of the total Direct and Indirect costs listed on the CFP.

To calculate your Net Direct Costs, follow the formulas below.  (This table is not interactive.)

Estimated 2025-2026 Costs md resident on/off campus out-of-state on/off campus md resident living with parents
Tuition & Fees (12-15 units)* $12,186 $31,332 $12,186
+ On Campus Housing & Meals* $16,666 $16,666 N/A
= Total Direct Costs* $28,852 $47,998

 $12,186
-Total Grants & Scholarships   -                  -                -                
= Net Direct Costs   =                  =                 =               

*For more information about these costs, see our Cost of Attendance budgets.

Understanding the CFP Aid Data

The CFP presents grants and scholarships in eight different categories, but your TU Financial Aid Offer will list the actual names of each grant and scholarship we offered.

Accessing TU’s College Financing Plan (CFP)

  1. Login to the Towson Online Services Student Dashboard.
  2. From the main Navigation Menu, choose Financials.
  3. Choose View Financial Aid.
  4. Choose the appropriate Aid Year.
  5. Choose the College Financing Plan link in the upper right corner of the screen.