So I ran my numbers through several schools, and for some, the net price got as low as $7000 (for MIT), with 58k in grants (I double-checked that to make sure I didn’t misread it). Now this almost certainly looks too good to be true. Can anyone confirm whether or not college board’s NPC actually is accurate or is it just a tool to encourage you to apply to colleges you can’t afford?
You need to make sure you go through the link from the college web site. CB has some general calculators which will not be accurate for all schools. The schools that link to CB have adjusted the calculator for their specifics. Two potential things which may make the calculator inaccurate are having divorced parents (multiple incomes) and a parent having a home business (many tax deductions will get added back in to income).
The other thing that throws a monkey wrench into the NPC calculations is when families own real estate other than their primary residence.
My suggestion is to use the NPC on the college website. Some will actuall spill you right back to the College Board. But others have their own NPC…on their website. That would be the most accurate.
Remember…the 2017-2018 school,year will use tax return info from 2015…so for income, that is the year you should use!
@“Erin’s Dad” My parents have neither.
@thumper1 My parent’s don’t have that either 
So the 2018-2019 school year will use 2016 tax return info?
@SerenePotato your oarents don’t have WHAT?
The 2018-2019 FAFSA will use the 2016 tax year information.
@thumper1 real estate other than primary residence, so since I have none of these things, can it be said that it is a decent estimation of actual cost?
The SCHOOL net price calculator will likely be a good estimate. Use that one.
You also have to figure into income any pretax retirement contributions (401k) your parents made during 2016.
Those won’t be listed on the tax return but on the W2 box 12. They are usually asked for as part of untaxed income on the NPC.
Schools that give institutional grants might ask about home equity as well.
And all schools ask about bank account balances and investments.
Some schools send you to the CB calculator (special version for that school). I heard a rumor recently that CB is getting out of the calculator business, though. Guessing we might have a few ugly years with low quality calculators when that happens.
If your parents are married and just have regular work type income and no properties, unusual investments, or businesses that they own the calculators are usually pretty decent. MIT is 100% need met with no loans so yes their numbers look great but getting in is the hard part. Same thing for most of the Ivies and a few other top schools. My son goes to UChicago and his grant aid was within $200 of the calculator.