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Net Price: How to Determine What a School Will Cost You
Last week we introduced College Board’s Big Future college search tool to help you identify schools that meet your criteria (major, location, size, etc.) AND your budget. The Big Future site is great, but it only shares averages. How can you estimate what a school will cost you? That’s where net price and net price calculators (NPC) come into play.
Net price is a school’s cost after grants and scholarships, the money that doesn't have to be repaid. Sometimes the most expensive schools are actually the most affordable because of the amount of financial aid they can offer in grants and scholarships. By looking at net price, you’ll discover that what matters is not how much a school costs, but how much a school costs you.
To get an estimate of how much financial aid a school may offer you so you can determine your net price, all schools are required to have a Net Price Calculator (NPC). The easiest way to find a school's NPC is to go to the school's home page and type "Net Price Calculator" in the search bar.
Each school's NPC will ask you to provide some of your information. The school will then use that information to calculate your estimated financial aid offer. Your net price will vary (sometimes dramatically) from one school to the next, not only because schools cost different amounts, but also because schools have different amounts of financial aid available.
It’s a great idea to test out the NPCs of schools you’re considering, and while the NPC is a good way to get a sense of a school’s affordability, keep in mind it’s only a rough estimate. Never make a decision based solely on the NPC. You won’t know your actual net price for a particular school until you've been admitted to the school and have received your official financial aid offer.
The Home Stretch
Over the past few weeks, we've talked about the financial aid process and its place in the piecemeal approach to affording education after high school. What happens if your summer earnings, savings, scholarships, and financial aid still aren't enough to cover the cost? Watch for next week's email where we'll discuss additional funding options to round out your funding "pie."
Have questions? We have answers! FAME's FAFSA and Financial Aid help are always free. Call us at 800-228-3734 (TTY: 207-626-2717), or send us an email at Education@FAMEmaine.com.
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