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[00:00:00] Do you wish there was a way to get an idea of how much a certain college may cost after your financial aid is awarded? Well, there is. You can find this information by using a net price calculator. And every college is required to have one on their website. Here’s how they work. Visit a college’s website and locate the net price calculator.

It’s probably easiest to find it using the website’s search bar, or you can check the financial aid webpage for it. And you’ll be asked to enter some basic information about the student and likely the parents, including annual income, assets, and the number of family members in the household. Now each college will ask for different information.

Some colleges will ask for the student GPA if they’re going to include merit scholarship information in their estimates. But in any case, the process won’t take more than a few minutes, and it’s anonymous. Once you finish, you’ll see the college’s cost followed by an itemized estimate of your financial aid [00:01:00] offer and a resulting balance that you would owe the college.

It’s very important to note that these results are a very rough estimate based on the information you entered in the college’s current model for awarding financial aid. It’s not an ironclad offer and the financial aid you receive from the college could be very different. For Some colleges also may have more accurate net price calculators than others.

But on the whole, net price calculators are a great way to get a feel for how affordable a college may end up being for you, even before you apply. If you have any further questions on college financing, here’s where you can find us.