In fact, Anderson said a low-income student with stellar high school grades could pay as little as half as much at a private campus than he or she would at a public institution.
“It’s like the difference between knowing the sticker price of a car and knowing what your costs will be after rebates, dealer discounts, and your used car’s trade-in value,” he said.
ED officials in 2009 mandated in the Higher Education Opportunity Act that campuses provide readily available net-cost projections on their campus websites. Colleges and universities can use a calculator template released by ED in November 2009, or they can create their own, as long as the tool incorporates data mandated by the federal government.
Some institutions have launched their own net-cost calculators before the federal deadline. Purdue University, Yale, Princeton, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are among high-profile schools with their own calculator.
An accurate net-cost calculator can also prove that students who come from middle or high income homes can still qualify for grants and other assistance. Anderson said he once helped a student slash her college costs even though her father made more than $200,000 annually.
The student’s father was paying tuition for two other daughters attending college, so his third daughter received need-based tuition assistance.
“Not everyone who makes that much will get that perk, but a lot of people will,” Anderson said.
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