Should I trust the NPC? $85k difference!

Are you saying that their Net Price Calculators gave those results?.

This student says she used the College Board net price calculator…which is what some colleges use.

But agree the kid should check to see if there is a NPC ON the college websites.

OP - are you reporting the total cost for four year’s attendance, or just the cost per year? The numbers you are reporting make more sense if you’re calculating the cost over 4 years.

I agree with @thumper1 (multiple posts back): You are going to need to have financial safeties on your list where the total cost of attendance is less than or equal to your budget without any need based aid. Given that your parents own a small business and also have rental property need based financial aid is definitely not something that you can count on, and the NPCs are likely to be wildly optimistic. Nearly every small business owner, rental property owner, and farmer that I know that lives in the US has sent their children to public universities in-state. The only exception was someone for whom $70k per year was very easily affordable.

If you have a budget of $45,000 per year, you should be able to find universities that will be under budget. This would seem to imply in-state public schools, schools where you can get a significant merit based aid, or universities that are out of the country. We found universities with a low total cost of attendance in each of these three categories.

OP said that’s the cost per year. Brown went up to $114k a year since last year??? How can EFC be more than the total cost of attendance?

The College Board NPC has no cap on the EFC, so the calculator is going to state what the formula calculates. It doesn’t really care what the COA is. No different than the FAFSA giving and EFC of $50k which will be used at a school where the instate tuition is $30k. The OP will be full pay at all those schools where the calculated EFC is above the COA. Of course she won’t pay more than the COA.

There is something weird. Ijust ran Brown’s with some wacky numbers (400k income, some giant home equity, etc,) and it comes out to full pay, 74k, annual. BUT, try it. At the top right, there’s box called Calculated Family Contribution. This seems to reflect the four years. One would expect it to show 74k x 4 years, more or less. But it only adds to 201k. At this point, I can’t tell why.

I agree one needs to run the NPCs using the caluclators found on each college’s web site. (Of course, this is off for OP with the self employment.) The CB calculator supposedly is a direct download from the colleges, but Istill consider it a secondary source.

@lookingforward

I’m guessing that the net price calculators would give you a net price…and that would not exceed the cost of attendance.

I’m also going to guess that this poster used the college board calculator to get an institutional expected family contribution…which like the FAFSA EFC, has no upper limit.

The good news for the OP is that Brown won’t cost $114,000 a year…because the cost of attendance is only $74,000 a year.

Regardless…this student’s family owns more than one piece of real estate in addition to their primary residence. I believe @BelknapPoint indicated that Brown used 100% of primary home equity to calculate need based aid. One would have to assume that the same is true for additional real estate.

I had a feeling when I read your initial post that this was going to be related to home equity. So you have a few action steps to take:

  1. Call each of the FA offices of colleges you are interested in. Explain your situation. Ask how it will affect the calculation of your FA.
    2.Run the NPCs on each college’s own website, not the college board calculator.
  2. Research colleges that don’t exceed $45k per year. Actually, make that $40k because the price will rise during your four years.
  3. Research colleges where you would be eligible for merit aid.

Actually…research colleges that cost $45,000 a year PLUS the annual Direct Loan. For freshman year, that is $5500…so you now have a budget for the year of $50,500. And get yourself a job.

There are plenty of colleges where your net costs will be under $50,000 a year. This is especially true if you start looking for schools where merit aid potential is there.

I’ll toss out some suggestions…Denison, U of Alabama, Miami of Ohio.

Ah, got it. I just assumed OP was using the NPC on each school’s website!

I think the distinction between npc “on the school’s site” and the college board npc is going to be confusing to many. Quite a few schools link to their customized version of college board npc on their FA pages. It might be the Brown npc, for example, but it’s on the college board site and uses a college board login. Some schools also have a link to the myintuition calculator, which is also a general template that they’ve customized.

I agree with those who’ve directed the op to call the FA office with some of these questions, esp relating to business income.

@TheGr8Gatsby

The link I’m posting here shows the MOST expensive college in every state. As you can see…the most expensive in some states are still less than the $45,000 your parents say they will give you. That means that every other college in the state costs less…so start looking here. LOTS of choices.

The rates for public universities are for OOS students. I’m betting that your instate public is even cheaper.

In addition, if you add $5500 in Direct Loans, you would have over $50,000 and that includes even more states!

http://www.thisisinsider.com/college-tuition-most-expensive-in-every-state-map-2018-5

According to that chart ^^ Stevens Institute of Technology (in NJ) is more expensive than Princeton. Seriously?

https://www.stevens.edu/admissions/tuition-financial-aid/tuition-fees-costs
https://admission.princeton.edu/cost-aid/fees-payment-options

Perhaps they ranked by tuition or billed costs? Stevens tuition and tuition+room+board are higher than Princeton, but Princeton lists higher books and miscellaneous expenses that make its total higher.

Also look at schools where an assured merit scholarship will get costs down to your parents budget

Don’t worry, I’m applying to USC where I’m sure I can get merit scholarships.

USC in CA? Or USC in SC?

The awards at University of South Carolina are not guaranteed to anyone.

Unless you are a national merit finalist, you are not guaranteed financial aid at University of Southern CA.

In Calif??
Are you a likely NMSF?

Why are you certain that you can get merit scholarships from USC??

What are your stats?

A good friend’s daughter, Salutatorian of her class, ACT 35, got no merit at all from USC. Why are you sure that you would get merit?

And even the NMFs are having quite the year at USC (calif). Think there might be a thread or two on that.