Ugh. That’s a bummer. I’m sure that’s a simple programming fix for CB. Thanks for sharing this update.
Sure, but why go thru the initial step at all? You still need your tax return, home/loan value, financial statements.
Separately, let’s not forget that the vast majority of NPCs do not include merit aid either. That’s why merit hunters have to apply to relatively more schools, because you have no idea what merit you might get until you apply and are accepted. Not sure there is any way to fix that because many schools don’t really know how much discount they will give a particular student until they see the entire pool.
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I guess because I was imagining a step that a kid might even be able to do alone. Some people think that “kids don’t WANT to know how much it will cost”, but my hypothesis is that as it stands now with the NPC, kids can’t know how much it would cost, not even ballpark.
So how about a Step-1 NPC that includes only stats that a kid might reasonably know or guess at. I don’t know, maybe: GPA, test scores (if any), state of residence (for public schools), how much money you estimate your parents make, whether you own or rent. Then it will immediately spit out a wide range and ask “Do you want a much more accurate estimate? Then click here and have your parents fill out the following forms!”
This Step-1 would at least tell kids from Ohio that they aren’t going to be able to afford UMichigan or the UCs, no matter their stats, and they can save themselves an application. Or that Macalester might get them to $50K but Vassar won’t.
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I have done this on multiple occasions. 1) My child is unlikely to be eligible for need-based aid. I do not need to provide detailed financial data to know this. 2) I do not want to be contacted unless and until my child decides this is the school he will attend. Right now we are fishing.
I appreciate the schools that publish their merit aid tables. With elder child we found these to be more reliable than the calculators. I also appreciate schools that state upfront that they do not offer merit aid to OOS students. We move on to other options.
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Are there many public schools that only offer merit to in state students? Mine were offered merit from every public except their in state flagship, and those merit offers were higher than what similar in state students were offered.
I’d like to see something simple for the low income students. Yes you’re not going to get an accurate estimate if you have divorced, small business, high assets etc etc. But the ones who I see truly missing out, are the low income students who think my parents are POOR there’s no reason to even think about a school that costs $80,000 a year. When the reality is that is probably their cheapest option, if they can get in. Even in the early 90s, the MIT, Cornell, etc all beat my instate public school option for net cost and those schools have just become more generous. There should be a simple tool for those kids.
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College Navigator is good for ball parking aid by using their average net price paid by income. It’s most useful for privates. For publics it shows average net price by income for in state students. For example, Ohio State
| AVERAGE NET PRICE BY INCOME | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 – $30,000 | $7,759 | $6,956 | $6,259 |
| $30,001 – $48,000 | $8,932 | $8,402 | $7,104 |
| $48,001 – $75,000 | $14,619 | $13,620 | $12,683 |
| $75,001 – $110,000 | $22,494 | $22,528 | $22,870 |
| $110,001 and more | $26,051 | $26,186 | $27,144 |
https://nces.ed.gov/COLLEGENAVIGATOR/?q=Ohio+State+university&s=all&id=204796#netprc
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In my state, if a student’s family is poor, there are several state schools that will be free. A couple of them even help with room and board costs. The schools advertise on Facebook, billboards, tv, radio - and they talk to counselors, give them flyers to post in schools, and make high school visits to talk with students. “Poor” isn’t middle class, though. The schools do publish their criteria, so it’s all very transparent.
The UCs have a relatively simple NPC (on what is apparently their own template). They use FAFSA only. Of course the result for non-California residents is no financial aid from the school, so that is simple also.
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Oh, I went and checked it out and pretended I was an OOS student and it really did spit out the full cost immediately without requiring other than what campus I wanted (I said Cal) and whether I was in-state or OOS. So good for them! My only suggestions for improvement would be:
- to make the NPC easier to find. I found it by googling UC Berkeley + NPC and it came right up. But then when I tried to find it by just going to the general website and finding it from there, it took me a long time and was fairly confusing.
- I think once the NPC gives the OOS student the estimate (which is full price so >$80K) they should also have a FAQ right there to drive it home e.g. Q- Does UC Berkeley provide any merit based scholarships on top of this for excellent OOS students? A-Almost never, and in the rare cases it does it is only a very small amount. You should still plan a cost of >$80K. Q-Does UC Berkeley give need based scholarships for low income students who are not residents of California? A: No it does not. Cal charges full price to OOS students. Or something similar.
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