Cost of Attendance vs. Net Price

There are two prices that families should understand before applying. Cost of attendance is often considered the “sticker price,” or what you see on the college’s website, which includes tuition, fees, room and board, and other indirect costs like books, supplies, transportation, loan fees, and other miscellaneous expenses.  Net price is the cost that families should pay more attention to, as this is the COA minus any federal grants or institutional scholarships the student may qualify for. Surprisingly, only 14% of students pay full COA, meaning almost 9 out of 10 students pay a reduced rate! Finding out the COA and the net price is relatively simple: We suggest using the website College Navigator, run by the National Center for Education Statistics. Under the tab “Tuition, Fees, and Estimated Student Expenses,” you can find the COA, and under “Net Price,” you can see the average net price.

Know the Percentage of Students Who Receive Institutional Aid

The next essential thing is to find out how many students receive institutional aid from that college and the average net price by income.

By reviewing the college’s information under “Financial Aid” in the College Navigator, you can find how many students actually receive aid. 

Understand Your Net Price

The last step in the process will take a bit more work. Now that you know a college’s COA and average net price, you can determine your net price depending on your family’s income and the student’s academic factors (test scores, GPA, etc.). Each college provides its own Net Price Calculator to make this calculation. Each calculator will ask you a series of questions, such as:

• Does the student plan to apply for financial aid?
• How old is the student?
• Where does the student plan to live while attending this institution?
• Is the student eligible for in-state/out-of-state tuition?
• Is the student married?
• Is the student the primary source of financial support for any children?
• How many people are in the family’s household?
• Of the number in the family above, how many will be in college next year?
• What is the family’s annual household income after taxes?
• ACT/SAT scores
• GPA

With this information, a family can now ask better, more specific questions when they visit a college and speak with their financial aid department. There may be additional institutional scholarships the student can apply for and other external scholarships and programs that could reduce the net price even further. With this information, the family can better compare colleges when making a list.

The short time spent researching this information will help your family be more informed about the actual cost of college before applying. 

Amanda Sterk is the director of college and career advising at Method Learning and the author of “College Unmazed” www.collegeunmazed.com.

SCHOLARSHIPS AND GRANTS

Florida scholarships and grants that are automatically awarded to students who complete the Florida Financial Aid Application and meet eligibility:

Florida Ease Grant: The William L. Boyd IV Effective Access to Student Education Program provides tuition assistance to Florida undergraduate students attending an eligible private Florida college or university. The student must meet Florida resident eligibility status determined by the institution and be a first-time college student seeking a baccalaureate degree. The grant amount for 2023-24 was $3,500 per year.

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program establishes lottery-funded scholarships to reward Florida high school graduates who will attend college in Florida and have met the academic requirements and minimum number of work or volunteer hours. The scholarship amount is calculated on the average cost per credit hour for a full-time schedule at a public college or university; that value may also apply to a private college or university tuition. More information at floridabrightfutures.gov.

To see all Florida scholarship and grant programs, please go to www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/.

RELATED CONTENT

Dual Enrollment: Teens Talk About Getting a Head Start on College

A guide to the new digital SAT for SWFL students

Scholarship Alert: Applications Are Open for Suncoast Credit Union Scholars

The post A three-step guide to uncover what college REALLY costs appeared first on SWFL Family.