I’ve been toying around with the free version of College Aid Pro to see how financial aid might differ compared to college NPCs. I’m finding remarkable variation. I’m curious if others have found generally that the NPCs were more accurate or if College Aid Pro was closer to reality.
For example, Princeton is often recommended for checking if you might qualify for aid anywhere since they’re often the most generous for those that don’t qualify for aid at a lot of places. When I run Princeton’s numbers through both, I get about the same aid award, which seems reasonable. However, when I try Hamilton, I get almost nothing from the NPC, but it almost matches Princeton in College Aid Pro.
Which do you think is more accurate? I realize that you’d only really know after applying and seeing what your actual aid is, but the variations seen could certainly change whether to even apply or not.
I agree with momofthree24. I don’t know all the various inputs into their MyCap program/formula, but I wouldn’t take those results over NPC results. Especially using a given school’s NPC that’s known to be accurate. Some schools take their NPC results seriously as well…meaning one can use that output as a basis for appeal whereas I doubt the same is true for the MyCap result.
What different questions did the MyCap program ask to account for the difference in the Hamilton estimate?
I generally agree with this statement, but they got a pretty nice shoutout on Your College Bound Kid, which made me look at it. The approach seems interesting (using actual financial aid awards given).
Yes, I wouldn’t think that you could use their estimate to go back and push for more. I’m more curious about the “actual” versus the “estimated” and which tool (NPC or MyCap) is more likely to be right.
That’s the funny thing - I don’t think they’ve asked anything materially different. Just plugging in relatively straightforward numbers reveals pretty different results.
That’s so interesting. Did they both ask for retirement assets? I don’t know how they could come up with a better estimate than Hamilton’s own NPC, which I’m assuming is reasonably accurate for typical situations. Did you notice if MyCap asks different questions if it’s a FAFSA only school vs. CSS school? I would also like to know how they are getting actual financial aid results and how they vet those…both from the school side and the user inputs.
I don’t want to diss College Aid Pro at all. I’ve met a number of the people who work there and also attended several of their presentations (not about MyCap) and they seemed to be quite knowledgeable. I will say I find some of their website and articles to be using fear to market their services, which I don’t love.
Sorry, forgot to reply to this part. They did NOT ask about retirement assets.
This is what, I guess, MyCAP is questioning. I would have expected results that were exactly or very close to the same. It’s why I’m looking for any real-world experience with it. I’m assuming I’m not the only person that noticed a difference.
I didn’t get this far with it. I just plugged in a few schools that I knew met need and wanted to see what I got.
They describe it in this episode (he does a little soliloquy at 8:00 and then starts describing the methodology at 12:00):
But it seems like a lot of it is folks upload their award letters and see what the comparison is.
Yes, but I think they’re effectively trying to reverse engineer it. In the podcast episode, he talks about how many college’s NPCs are inaccurate and schools may not necessarily worry too much about it.
Please use the NPC on the college specific sites. It will be more accurate for that college. I wouldn’t use a third party no matter how many shout outs it gets anywhere…not when each college has its own NPC.
Thanks everyone for the feedback so far. I’d love to see if there are any actual real world examples. Has anyone that’s gone through an admission cycle and gotten their financial award seen something where the NPC was more accurate or the MyCAP was more accurate?
Agree 100%. I can’t imagine what the dialogue would be like when a college’s aid letter differs from what a third party site told a kid what the package would be. The adcom’s reaction would be what exactly? “We’re so sorry that an organization which is not affiliated with us, and does not understand how we allocate our limited financial aid funds, and does not know what our policy is towards home equity, divorced parents, K-1 income from a trust, partial ownership of an asset which cannot be sold or borrowed against, etc. somehow gave you a number which doesn’t match what we gave you. Apologies”.
Do you think you can successfully negotiate with the number from a third party, unaffiliated with the U? Good luck with that plan.
Not to belabor the point or start a debate, but this is what I’m really curious about - are the NPCs actually accurate and does MyCAP provide greater insight into what a family might actually receive in aid. There is at least one comment in another thread noting that their actual aid packages versus the NPC were all over the place. I’m not advocating using an unofficial third-party estimate as the number to argue with a college, but it would be nice to get a sense of what’s reality. One of the cardinal comments in these forums is that it’s a rejection if you can’t afford it even if you get in. It would be nice to not rule out colleges that appear unaffordable with an inaccurate NPC.
Your NPC results should be viewed as a good estimate, in my opinion. But they also need to be done at the right time.
Right now, the NPCs are set for kids starting college fall 2025…this year. Using info from tax year 2023.
For those of you with HS juniors, these are NOT set for when your kids will be going to college. Most schools adjust their NPCs late summer just prior to your kid’s senior year in HS.
Also, you will note that some NPCs are more “robust” than others, asking more questions. Those tend to be more accurate.
I personally would not use a third party calculator except as a VERY rough estimate…but that is my opinion.
Great question—and one we hear often from families doing their due diligence!
In short, College Aid Pro (MyCAP) is usually much more accurate than many school Net Price Calculators (NPCs), especially when there’s a noticeable gap between schools like Princeton and Hamilton. Here’s why:
Most college NPCs are built using minimal data and outdated assumptions. A lot of them rely on the Department of Education’s basic template, which doesn’t account for assets, nuanced merit aid, or detailed family financial info. That means two families with very different financial situations might get the same estimate, just because they fall into the same general Student Aid Index (SAI) range.
College Aid Pro, on the other hand, uses detailed inputs and real-world data. Our estimates are based on what colleges are actually awarding—real award letters, school-specific financial aid policies, and each student’s unique academic and financial profile. That’s why our projections usually come much closer to actual offers, especially when compared to the more generic NPCs.
For example, one family ran the NPC for Northeastern and got a projected net cost of around $20,000. Our software showed $48,000. The final award? $47,800. Almost an exact match with College Aid Pro—and a $27,000+ miss by the NPC.
That said, some schools do a better job with their NPCs than others (Princeton’s is actually one of the better ones). But if you’re seeing a big difference between College Aid Pro and a school’s NPC—especially if the NPC’s number feels too good to be true—it’s smart to trust our projections and use them when building a balanced college list.
Totally hear you, but I’d be cautious about relying solely on college NPCs. Many are outdated, oversimplified, and don’t factor in key elements like assets or merit aid.
This blog post shares a real example where Duke’s NPC was off by nearly $40,000:
Our estimate was spot on—and it actually led Duke to revise their NPC. So while NPCs can be helpful, saying not to use any third-party tool isn’t entirely fair—or always accurate.
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