For all new international students enrolling at a U.S. college/university on an F-1 visa, the government requires the college/university to verify that the student will have enough funds to cover educational and living expenses. The Certification of Finances (COF) form gathers information about an international student’s ability to cover any educational and living costs beyond what is covered by financial aid and through student employment earnings

In the case of Principia, the minimum amount required for new international students enrolling in Fall 2023 is $48,650. That may sound like a big amount but don’t worry – it includes your financial aid and estimated earnings from student employment.

Your financial aid award + estimated student employment earnings + x = $48,650
Therefore, x = $48,650 – financial aid package – estimated student employment earnings

x = the minimum amount you need to declare in the COF (section 7) and whose availability you need to prove

Your estimated earnings from student employment is $8,000.

If x = $48,650 – financial aid package – estimated student employment earnings.

Then x = $48,650 – financial aid package – $8,000, which is equal to $40,650 – financial aid package.

Absolutely! Please see below.

If Kenny received a financial aid award package of $17,000, how much money would he need to provide proof of through the COF?

This would be $20,000 – $17,000. Kenny would need to show through the COF that he has $3000 available for his education at Principia.

• Sections 1 – 6: this is biographical/personal information. Please fill it out accordingly.
• Section 7 has four main parts. For each part that applies, please enter the amount in U.S. dollars. Only the first column (FIRST YEAR) is required.

Personal or Family Savings – this could be money that you have direct access to, e.g. in your own bank account. for purposes of this form, the savings must be certified by a financial institution (see section 8)

Parents – This is money availed to you by parents or guardians. Similarly, availability of support from parents or legal guardians must be certified by a financial institution (see section 8)

Sponsors – please note: this does not refer to any financial aid from Principia. A sponsor here refers to money available for your education from sources other than your parents/guardians. It could be a relative, a friend, an employer, a non-governmental organization etc.

Your government – if a government agency from your country will be providing financial assistance towards your education, please indicate here

NOTE: If you do not know how much projected support you will have for the second to fourth year, then there is no need to fill it out. Those columns can be left blank.

Section 8- For any of the sections you filled out with an amount greater than $0 in section 7 (FIRST YEAR column), the respective bank must certify that the funds are available in the account. This can be done in one of the following ways:
Getting the relevant bank official’s signature and the bank’s stamp on the COF, or
Submitting a recent copy of the respective bank statement, dated within the past six months, or
Providing an official signed letter from the bank verifying the amount of money in the account.

Sections 9 – 14: fill this out to the best of your knowledge. Any amounts indicated here can be estimates; you do not need to provide proof of availability of these funds.

Section 15: Sign and submit the form.