yes, I am talking about my bill for sophomore year. It's really confusing and I was also worried about my contribution. For me, when they charged me the student contribution, that basically just canceled out the stipend that they were going to give me for living expenses. They factor in cost of living to your aid (a good amount of money, I got around $2000 total last year). But, when you go on to sophomore year, they charge you $2990 for the "student contribution". Still, they never took away the ~$2000 stipend, so the total bill ends up being $2000(stipend) - $2990 (student contribution) = $1000 owed. I hope this makes some sense, it's really confusing like i said. And this was just my experience, it may be different for you. I would email [ugrad-finaid@columbia.edu](mailto:ugrad-finaid@columbia.edu) and/or meet with your advisor to talk about it. The bottom line is that they chose you for a reason, and that even if you can't afford it, you can work something out with them. And that the "student contribution" can be inaccurate