By Larry Gordon

What does it really cost California students to attend college?

An ambitious new survey of about 100,000 students is about to attempt to answer that question, with a special emphasis on housing, food and transportation costs.

Reaching out to public and private schools across the state, it will be the first survey of such scope in a dozen years. And plenty has changed in the California real estate market since then, as students are quick to note.

The new study is sponsored by the California Student Aid Commission, the state agency that awards Cal Grants — the financial aid that usually covers tuition but not those other expenses. If the survey results show that costs are significantly higher than previously thought, more students could become eligible for aid and those already eligible could receive more state, federal and campus grants. Plus, officials say it might influence legislators to support increases in the sizes of those awards across the board.

Read the full story at EdSource.