Is there a web site where people anonymously post actual Fin Aid received?

Paying for College
1

<p>I'm not sure how much I trust the net price calculator estimates. Might there
exist a web site where people share anonymously what actual financial aid
packages they were offered and their family income? What made me think of
this is there are a couple of sites where you can go to see what people actually
paid for room when they used priceline.com. It helps you make better bids.<br>
Parchment has interesting information on where people applied and where
they were accepted/rejected and attending along with their scores. </p>

2

<p>Yes, parchment, college price calculator on specific school web sites, etc…but it can only go so far as people are willing to share.
Even the net price calculator is not a guarantee. Your only best option is waiting for your award letter from the school, everything else should be use as tentative estimates.
Best of luck to you.</p>

3

<p>On Parchment their Financial Aid page just has a graph of funding sources and a link to scholarshippoints and a link to private lenders. (BTW - that scholarshippoints looks kind of scammy - more like a sweepstakes than an actual scholarship clearing house.) Am I just missing the aid package actuals? It would really help to know whether it’s worth the $100 application fees if you knew the actual likely cost situation. </p>

4

<p>Collegebargain…not sure why you would think other folks’ aid awards would be helpful to you. There are so many variables in computing these awards,especially at schools that do not meet full need, that what one person receives is not necessarily going to help another person.</p>

<p>In addition, some school formulas change from year to year.</p>

5

<p>Maybe the NPC is somewhat accurate as it’s actually a government requirement. </p>

<p><a href=“Net Price Calculator- Typography Video | College Net Price Calculator Student Video Challenge”>http://netpricecalc.challengepost.com/submissions/5718-net-price-calculator-typography-video&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And this site perhaps can corroborate the NPC on collegeboard. <a href=“College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics”>http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>The Net Price Calculators give good estimates. The only accurate financial aid award is the one you actually receive from the college.</p>

7

<p>I recently asked the Financial Aid office at a school we are interested in if their NPC was accurate and they told me “fairly accurate” I just wish I knew more if that was fairly accurate as in off by a few thousand or fairly accurate as in off by 10-20K. Makes a big difference. We are trying to decide whether applying ED is right for us financially.</p>

8

<p>My understanding is the NPC is accurate when the income is primarily earned from a salary. The estimates become less accurate when the income earned from self employment/owning a private business. </p>

<p><a href=“How to Spot a Lousy Net Price Calculator”>www.thecollegesolution.com/how-to-spot-a-lousy-net-price-calculator</a></p>

9

<p>Heres a link about how to spot a lousy NPC. </p>

<p><a href=“How to Spot a Lousy Net Price Calculator”>Http://www.thecollegesolution.com/how-to-spot-a-lousy-net-price-calculator&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>Thanks dadlab. I’ve noticed the out-of-date NPCs more than once. </p>