<p>Any familiar with the Net Price Calculator that is suppose to be available on college website's beginning this October? Does it accurately give the price to attend that college? What info does it ask for?</p>
<p>Many colleges are linking their NPC’s to the college board website already. I would suggest picking a college’s NPC on that site and run your numbers through - you can see EXACTLY what info each specific college is looking for…</p>
<p>[Participating</a> Schools Using College Board’s Net Price Calculator](<a href=“Net Price Calculator (NPC) - Education Professionals”>Net Price Calculator (NPC) - Education Professionals)</p>
<p>It does not work for me - your milage may vary.</p>
<p>I filled out the U of MN calculator, and it indicates that our family should pay @ $7,000 per year - we can actually afford $0.00, AND my son needs to take out $7,000 in loans.</p>
<p>It also does not include any way of entering and/or estimating merit / scholarship money, and my son should qualify for big money.</p>
<p>It won’t include potential scholarship money. It gives you a calculation based on your income and assets.</p>
<p>That’s a spiffy little calculator and looks like it’s fairly accurate. I tried one school that I had some familiarity with from S2 and it came out pretty close to what his package was. In my case the “institutional grants” total WAS the total from S2s experience (including merit scholarships) so I’d be careful about assuming merit stacks but I tried a private not a public school…it will be nice to see more colleges come on-line with this just to run comparables.</p>
<p>Nugraddad, I think the max you can expect from UMinn is $10K/year if your son is a NMF. [University-Wide</a> Scholarships](<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/costsaid/schol_campus.html]University-Wide”>University-Wide Academic Scholarships | Office of Admissions) Being OOS hurts you.</p>
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<p>the net price calculators give you an ESTIMATED family contribution based on the financial information you put into the calculator. If the U MN calculator calculated a $7000 family contribution, that is what the college has calculated you can pay based on the information you provided. These calculators do not consider what you CAN pay…only what you are expected to pay based on the financial figures provided.</p>
<p>Net price calculators (NPC) vary widely in accuracy. Colleges may choose to build their own, buy a custom NPC , use the federal NPC template, or buy a ‘self-serve’ template. Many colleges are choosing custom NPCs because they, along with build-your-own, are usually the most accurate. Colleges using the free, federal NPC template to create a calculator are providing most students inaccurate estimates because, for example, the federal NPC template, determines MERIT aid using a college’s NEED-BASED aid formula. </p>
<p>In contrast, Student Aid Services, Inc., the largest provider of custom NPCs for post-secondary institutions, has built or is building NPCs for more than 450 colleges using very sophisticated technology. </p>
<p>In 8 to 12 minutes by answering a questions of family size, GPA, military service, income, and assets, prospective college students using a Student Aid Services NPC can learn a reliable estimates of their aid eligibility, net price, out-of-pocket costs, and monthly cost of federal education loan repayments. </p>
<p>Here are a few examples:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>University of Alabama of Huntsville, AL
<a href=“https://uah.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>ClearCost;
<li><p>Centre College of Danville, KY
<a href=“https://centre.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>ClearCost;
<li><p>Cornell University of Ithaca, NY
<a href=“https://cornell.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>Drexel University of Philadelphia, PA
<a href=“https://drexel.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>University of Houston of Clear Lake, TX
<a href=“https://uhcl.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>Marquette University of Milwaukee, WI
<a href=“https://marquette.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>ClearCost;
<li><p>Pace University of New York City, NY
<a href=“https://pace.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Pace University - Net Price Calculator;
<li><p>Polytechnic Institute of New York University of Brooklyn, NY
<a href=“https://poly.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>Rice University of Houston, TX
<a href=“https://rice.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>Skidmore College of Saratoga Springs, NY
<a href=“https://skidmore.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Skidmore College - Net Price Calculator;
<li><p>Wentworth Institute of Technology of Boston, MA
<a href=“https://wit.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Wentworth Institute Of Technology - Net Price Calculator;
<li><p>Wesleyan University of Middletown, CT
<a href=“https://wesleyan.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>West Virginia University of Morgantown, WV
<a href=“https://wuv.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>Williams College of Williamstown, MA
<a href=“https://williams.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>Santa Clara University of Santa Clara, CA
<a href=“https://scu.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>Indiana State University of Terra Haute, IN
<a href=“https://indstate.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>ISU Net Price Calculator;
<li><p>University of Tampa, Tampa, FL
<a href=“https://ut.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>University of Tampa - Net Price Calculator;
<li><p>University of Vermont
<a href=“https://uv.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>Seattle-Pacific University
<a href=“https://spu.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>Bowdoin College of Brunswick, ME
<a href=“https://bowdoin.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Bowdoin College - Net Price Calculator;
<li><p>Washington College, Chestertown, MD <a href=“https://washcoll.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>Unknown Address;
<li><p>Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV
<a href=“https://shepherd.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx[/url]”>ClearCost;
</ol>
<p>Also there is a consumer service called the College Cost & Planning Report ™ ([Helping</a> Students Make Smart College Choices - StudentAid.com](<a href=“http://www.studentaid.com/Home]Helping”>http://www.studentaid.com/Home)), which is a great first step in college planning because it provides a side-by-side comparison of an individual’s aid eligibility, net price, and out-of-pocket costs. This consumer service is free to low-income students and for a modest fee for others. </p>
<p>Besides letting a student know which colleges they are considering best fit their academic and financial circumstances, the College Cost & Planning Report is customized workbook that guides students and their families through the financial aid process and does the initial research about colleges including valuable information such as graduation and retention rates (difficult to find on many college Web sites). Saves students and families time and money.</p>
<p>Hi there, I’m a newspaper reporter in California. For a story I’m writing about the new Net Price Calculators, I’m interested in speaking with parents or students who are using them. I’d like to know if you’re finding this tool helpful Please get in touch with me by emailing lrosenhall (at) sacbee.com as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>