<p>Now that the HS class of 2012 has their acceptance and FA results, let's hear about those Net Price Calculators.</p>
<p>Were they accurate for aid? For merit?</p>
<p>My son (high school class 2013) is heavily using it as a tool to narrow his list of colleges, but I am wary since they are so new.</p>
<p>I mostly used the net price calculator at the Collegeboard web site. It was of limited value to me, though with the caveat that I may not have done enough research into what numbers to enter into it. Where I was most confused was what to put in for income–gross, adjusted gross, net…? You’ll want to make sure that you’re using the correct one. I found that my results varied quite widely depending on what I used, and few of my results matched what we actually ended up seeing for our EFC on the FAFSA or what the colleges decided from our CSS Profile (the difference was significantly in the unpleasant direction).</p>
<p>I never saw merit aid listed as part of the net price calculators, at least at the colleges we were researching. At some, where aid may be based purely upon GPA and test scores, they can probably tell you outright what you can get in merit aid. I know that’s the case, for example, at Washington State University. Presumably it applies at a number of other schools as well. Merit aid, though, won’t supplement need-based aid. Instead, it will replace it. You only come out ahead if the merit aid exceeds your need.</p>