Put up to three financial aid offers side by side. The tool separates the money you never repay from the money you earn and the money you borrow, then shows each college’s real net price. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
| Per year, from each offer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of attendance | |||
| Tuition & fees | $ | $ | $ |
| Housing & food | $ | $ | $ |
| Books, supplies & equipment | $ | $ | $ |
| Transportation & personal | $ | $ | $ |
| Free money (never repaid) | |||
| Grants & scholarships | $ | $ | $ |
| Earned money | |||
| Work-study | $ | $ | $ |
| Borrowed money (repaid with interest) | |||
| Federal student loans (Direct) | $ | $ | $ |
| Parent PLUS & private loans | $ | $ | $ |
Enter at least the cost of attendance and the grants for one college to see its net price.
How to read your award letters before you type
- Use the full cost of attendance, not just tuition. Colleges include housing, food, books, transportation and personal costs in the cost of attendance, and some letters show only the bill they send you. If a letter leaves a line out, look it up on the college’s financial aid website.
- Put every grant and scholarship in the free-money row. Pell Grants, state grants, college grants and outside scholarships all count. Ask whether each one renews and what GPA keeps it.
- Keep loans out of the free-money row, even when the letter adds them to “total aid.” Parent PLUS loans are borrowed by your parent and are repaid with interest.
For the full walk-through, including the phrases that hide loans, read how to compare financial aid award letters. If your family’s situation has changed since you filed, you can ask the college to review your aid.
How this tool works: methodology and sources
- Net price = cost of attendance minus grants and scholarships. This is the amount your family pays out of savings, income or loans. Grants and scholarships do not have to be paid back as long as you meet their requirements, so they are the only lines subtracted. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Your financial path to graduation.
- Work-study is not subtracted from the net price. The work-study amount in an offer is the most you can earn at a part-time job, it is estimated and not guaranteed, and a job is not lined up for you (CFPB, same page).
- Still to cover = cost minus grants, work-study and every loan in the offer. A figure above zero is money the family must find elsewhere.
- Four years multiplies one year’s net price by four. Real costs usually rise each year, and some grants do not renew, so treat it as a floor, not a forecast.
- Loan types and repayment rules: Federal Student Aid, Loans. Comparing colleges’ average net prices before you apply: U.S. Department of Education, College Affordability and Transparency Center.
This tool is general information, not financial advice. The college’s financial aid office has the final word on your package.