Plan Your College Finances with These Cost Estimating Tools

Estimating college costs helps parents and students know how much money they might need to complete a college, university, or trade school degree program. Thanks to online tools like a tuition cost calculator or college costs calculator, students and their families can easily find the estimated cost of college.

Bear in mind that a college cost online tool offers college price estimates, and the numbers aren’t perfect. You won’t know the exact figures for attending a particular school until you apply and the school accepts you and sends you a financial aid letter.

That said, let’s delve a little deeper into total college costs and look at the information some college cost estimator tools can provide.

Understanding Total College Costs

Understanding total college costs is essential, as the cost to attend a particular college or university extends beyond tuition, food, and housing costs, according to the Federal Student Aid Office.

Additional educational expenses include books and school supplies (such as a backpack, pens, paper, and notebooks), equipment like a computer and printer, dorm room essentials like a mini fridge, microwave, and towels, and travel expenses like gas to go home on breaks.

When you add tuition, fees, food, housing, and all the additional expenses for one year at school, the sum is your total college cost.

Calculating Net College Price

If you file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), any school you list that offers you admission will send you a financial aid award letter. The award letter details the types and amounts of aid you may receive and your expected family contribution (EFC). These amounts vary by school.

To calculate your net price for a year at a specific school:

• Subtract grant and scholarship awards from the total cost of attendance on your award letter.
• If you don’t see the total cost of attendance in the letter, contact the school’s financial aid office to get it.
• Subtract any savings you will use to pay for the total college price.

The remaining amount is your net college price.

College Cost Estimator Tools

Having a rough idea of what your degree costs at a specific school helps you create a budget to pay out-of-pocket educational expenses. Use any of these college cost estimator tools to help calculate your potential financial obligations for college.

Net Price Calculators by School

Federal law requires postsecondary institutions participating in Title IV federal student aid programs to post a net price calculator on their website, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The free tool helps students and their families estimate a net price of attendance (cost of attendance minus grant and scholarship aid) for a particular school. Visit each institution’s website to use their individual tools.

For example, prospective first-year undergraduate students at DBU can estimate costs with our First-Year Undergraduate Net Price Calculator. Just provide the appropriate information to receive your net price estimates.

College Raptor

College Raptor’s free college match tool generates a list of college matches and estimates a net price for each. Similarly, use the site’s financial aid offer comparison tool to compare aid offers and see which school is giving you the best deal. Simply upload your award letters from each school, and the tool calculates actual net price, loans, and out-of-pocket costs and estimates debt at graduation.

TuitionFit

TuitionFit leverages financial aid packages that users submit to help families generate their own college price estimates. Input a student’s academic information, parent financial data, and EFC to generate a list of colleges in your range. The $49 premium account allows you to compare prices against offers that similar students from other colleges share.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Tool

You can use the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s handy college cost estimator tool to understand your financial aid offer, estimate how much you’ll owe for college, see if you can afford the debt, and compare offers from different schools. After you input your college or university name and financial award amounts and answer a series of questions, you can use the out-of-pocket estimates to decide how to proceed on “your financial path to graduation.”

BigFuture EFC Calculator

The College Board’s BigFuture EFC Calculator enables you to estimate how much you or your family is expected to contribute for the upcoming academic year. Knowing this information before you fill out the FAFSA can help you formulate an early plan to cover any out-of-pocket college expenses.

Overall, gaining financial insights or cost estimates for college helps you prepare for the investment you and your parents will make in your education. DBU is always here to answer your questions about bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. Contact us for more information.