"COLLEGES OFTEN DON’T charge students the full sticker price to attend, instead setting the price based on a family’s income.
Take Duke University, for example. On its website, the North Carolina school advertises a sticker price of $78,608 for tuition and fees; room; board; and books, supplies and personal expenses for the 2019-2020 school year. But most Duke hopefuls won’t end up paying the full cost, and the amount will vary across families.
Students who receive federal financial aid and have a family income below $30,000 will pay nothing to attend the prestigious university, while those making $110,001 or more will pay an average annual cost of $52,081, according to December 2019 data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard. Using data from this tool, students can gauge what they may pay at a specific institution.
Navigating the complicated system that determines the cost for an individual family can be a deterrent to higher education for some students." …