In 2011, the federal government mandated that colleges had to post a new tool called the “net-price calculator” to their websites. You input information common for financial aid forms (like income and savings). Then the net-price calculator estimates your financial aid eligibility, subtracts that from the college’s cost of attendance and tells you how much they estimate you will need to pay next year to attend each school. The net-price calculator estimate was never intended to be a promise of aid a family would or wouldn’t receive. But after three years, experts point out that the accuracy of many calculators may leave a lot to be desired.
From expert Mark Kantrowitz in this article:
“The difference between calculator estimates and actual costs for many families will be as little as $500, but for some, the gap could be as wide as $5,000…Net price calculators provide a ballpark estimate of the real cost of the college. They tell you whether the college is inside or outside the ballpark of affordability but do not distinguish between home plate and center field.”
For senior families who’ve already selected your colleges, please apply for financial aid, regardless of what the net-price calculator told you. The only way to avail yourself of potential aid is to apply for it, and while many colleges give more aid to academically appealing students regardless of their financial need, they also often require that a student apply for need-based aid to be considered.
And for families who will soon be starting your college search, use the net-price calculators the way you’d use a simple online mortgage calculator—treat the figure like an estimate, and know that you’ll need to actually apply (and provide a lot more information) to get the real number.