Survey: how close was your actual FA (financial aid) net price to the college’s NPC (net price calculator) estimate?
The purpose is to help others determine which colleges have NPCs that give good estimates and which colleges have NPCs that do not. Survey questions avoid asking too much detail about actual finances (the dollar value of net price is not asked).
Use this template:
Name of college:
Percentage difference between actual FA and NPC estimate of net price:
Simple finances* (Y/N):
Divorced parents, and college requires both parents’ finances (Y/N):
Whether any merit scholarships were included in actual FA (Y/N), NPC estimate (Y/N), and whether they match (Y/N):
*Net price = list price - (grants + scholarships). Calculate percentage difference by:
100 * ((actual FA net price) - (NPC estimate of net price)) / (NPC estimate of net price)
Negative percentage indicates actual FA net price was lower by that percentage (i.e. better), while positive percentage indicates that actual FA net price was higher by that percentage (i.e. worse).
For example, suppose NPC gave a net price of $20,000. If the actual FA net price was $18,000, the percentage would be -10%. If the actual FA net price was $21,000, the percentage would be +5%.
If NPC estimate of net price is $0, use $1,000 or the actual FA net price (whichever is less) to avoid dividing by zero. If both are $0, give 0% as the answer.
**Simple finances have (a) income that is predominantly W-2, with possible small amounts of interest, dividends, and/or capital gains (income from self-employment, small business, farm, rentals/royalties, etc. is not “simple” here), and (b) assets limited to typical bank accounts and publicly traded securities, and owner occupied home equity (businesses, trust funds, complex investments, rental real estate, etc. are not “simple”). Non-US income or assets other than securities normally bought and sold in the US are not “simple”.
Name of college: Haverford
Percentage difference between actual FA and NPC estimate of net price: 0%
Simple finances* (Y/N): Y
Divorced parents, and college requires both parents’ finances (Y/N): N
Whether any merit scholarships were included in actual FA (Y/N), NPC estimate (Y/N), and whether they match (Y/N): N/N/NA (need based aid only school)
*original FA award had about a discrepancy, but it was corrected on appeal. They originally wanted 6x as much from parent/student than the NPC indicated.
I was going to start a similar thread. I 'm glad you did @ucbalumnus.
Hoping to see more data here soon! I would contribute myself but DS16’s results may be too old at this point.
Name of college: Columbia
Percentage difference between actual FA and NPC estimate of net price: 0.5% (FA was slightly better than NPC)
Simple finances* (Y/N): Y
Divorced parents, and college requires both parents’ finances (Y/N): N
Whether any merit scholarships were included in actual FA (Y/N), NPC estimate (Y/N), and whether they match (Y/N):
N/N/NA (need based aid only school)
Name of college: Stanford
Percentage difference between actual FA and NPC estimate of net price: 0.0% (NPC was perfect, COA included an estimate for travel that was very generous)
Simple finances* (Y/N): Y
Divorced parents, and college requires both parents’ finances (Y/N): N
Whether any merit scholarships were included in actual FA (Y/N), NPC estimate (Y/N), and whether they match (Y/N):
N/N/NA (need based aid only school)
Name of college: Tulane University
Percentage difference between actual FA and NPC estimate of net price: -3%
Simple finances* (Y/N): N (both parents self-employed)
Divorced parents, and college requires both parents’ finances (Y/N): N
Whether any merit scholarships were included in actual FA (Y/N): N
Name of college: Swarthmore
Percentage difference between actual FA and NPC estimate of net price: Actual FA is a few hundreds more than the NPC result. (The difference is caused by different estimates of federal grant, which is yet to be finalized in summer.) I think basically Swarthmore NPC is reliable for families of simple finances.
Simple finances* (Y/N): Y
Divorced parents, and college requires both parents’ finances (Y/N): N
Whether any merit scholarships were included in actual FA (Y/N), NPC estimate (Y/N), and whether they match (Y/N): N/N/NA
Net prices calculators were accurate - we had too much money saved and were full pay. Merit offers for both kids at safeties.
Update on post #6:
My child told me his FA from Swarthmore was updated with more grants. Now the actual FA offers a little more money than the NPC result.
NPC for the 7ish schools we did were all accurate. Actually, I think all (or 6 out of 7) were lower than the NPCs. All were within a couple of thousand of NPC (some were lower I think bc they didn’t ask for GPA/scores in NPC).
We have/are:
- Simple finances (employed, W-2ers)
- Married parents
I also completed the NPC pretty dang accurately!
Name of college: Barnard
Percentage difference between actual FA and NPC estimate of net price: Actual FA was better
Simple finances* (Y/N): Y
Divorced parents, and college requires both parents’ finances (Y/N): N
Whether any merit scholarships were included in actual FA (Y/N), NPC estimate (Y/N), and whether they match (Y/N): N/N/NA