<p>"Students checking out colleges this fall shouldn't rule out any options based on price alone.</p>
<p>The tuition and fees that schools publish online are often far more than what families end up paying. The problem is that the true cost of attendance - after subtracting federal, state and school grants - isn't always clear until students receive their financial aid award letters.</p>
<p>But starting Oct. 29, colleges will be required to provide 'net price calculators' on their websites. These will give families a better sense, early on, of what their actual costs would be for that particular year. This is expected to help students get a more accurate assessment of the range of schools that are within their reach.</p>
<p>'The sticker price is what people look at, but it's not a good indicator of what your cost is going to be,' says Laura Asher, president of the Institute for College Access & Success, which advocates for more affordable education. 'Sometimes you'll end up with a better deal at a school that looks more expensive on the surface.'"...</p>
<p>Boon for college consumers or more debatable confusion?</p>
<p>I tried the NPC on the CB recently to compare it to the FA package my D2 got from a participating college. It was within a couple thousand dollars, which I thought was reasonable. </p>
<p>What I personally didn’t like about the calculator (although it’s probably good for people new to paying for college) is that they put in an estimate for travel, books & misc. into the cost of the school. Although this is definitely an expense that must be considered, the numbers varied with the school; for instance, there were different numbers for Pomona and CMC, which are located in the same place. I prefer to use my own estimates based on distance from home, what major my kid is likely to have (as this may affect the cost of books), city, etc.</p>
<p>I am pretty skeptical about helpful this will be. Because I know first-hand how people behave when it comes to financial aid information, I worry that there will be a lot of anger because the numbers on the estimator and the number in real life do not match. It’s just my opinion, and whether or not it’s correct remains to be seen.</p>
<p>is that they put in an estimate for travel, books & misc. into the cost of the school.</p>
<p>And there seems to be no standard for “personal expenses” or travel. </p>
<p>Personal expenses should not have such a wide range…sometimes as low as $1000 to as high as $2500 or so. </p>
<p>There should be a few choices for travel…commuting, within 200 miles, 201-500 miles, more than 500 miles. And the amounts should be rather standard at least by region.</p>
<p>Why would prior year tax returns affect the reported income? Is he talking about the tax return for the base year or the tax returns for years prior to that?</p>