The financial aid departments at universities are responsible for determining the cost of attendance (COA).  This number is primarily used to determine the amount of financial aid that a student might need in order to attend the school.  The Power 5 conferences have now decided to add the COA to what the school offers a student-athlete in a scholarship for the 1st time.  The U.S. Department of Education provides broad subjective guidelines for what goes into calculating Cost of Attendance.

“Money can be calculated for tuition and fees; room and board; books; supplies; transportation and miscellaneous personal expenses. However, financial aid offices at each school decide the amounts of each type of cost.” (CBS)

Every school is able to define these things differently, which results in every school being able to offer recruits a different dollar sign beside that COA total that accompanies their scholarship.

Some schools offer different amounts based on if your an in-state or out-of-state student.  Other schools pay out more if the student lives off campus.  One ACC school pays more to athletes who have graduated.  Others pay the same amount to every athlete regardless.  Schools pay out once a month, once a semester, twice a semester, three times a semester, and in 10 separate payments. (DailyPress)

Here is a chart from CBS of the COA that each ACC team is adding to their scholarship offers this year for the very first time.

For an extensive breakdown of the details on each teams COA, read this article from the DailyPress.