Franklin & Marshall, Oberlin and Reed provide what they call “Early Financial Aid Estimates” (or similar), where an applicant can submit their application package including FAFSA and CSS by two weeks prior to the ED deadline and they give you a preliminary financial aid estimate to help you decide whether to submit for ED. Are there any other colleges that do that?
Isn’t an NPC # basically this ?
Anyway you can add Whitman to your list. Also Wooster and and Cornell College.
At Whitman College, we’re committed to making the financial aid process easier and less confusing. That’s why we offer the Early Financial Aid Guarantee—so you don’t have to wait until you are admitted to start thinking about the cost. In fact, you can find out before you even apply!
With this early guarantee, you can see how much money in scholarships and financial aid you’ll be awarded from Whitman if you are admitted.
Whitman’s Early Financial Aid Guarantee is available for high school seniors from June 30 through Dec. 15. Results are generally available within a couple of weeks.
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No. “Early Financial Aid Estimates” give early financial aid estimates for the numerous categories in which the NPC doesn’t work.
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This thread identified some schools where posters have received financial aid pre-reads, although not necessarily limited to ED. As always, one should directly contact the school(s) and ask for a financial aid pre-read.
Adding to what ski said…many NPCs are just not accurate, even for people with straightforward finances. Example…American University. At a recent conference an FA staff member said it’s not accurate and just don’t use it.
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A net price calculator gives an estimate of your net costs.
These colleges that give an early financial read are giving you what they will give you if you are accepted…because it’s based on the actual FAFSA and Profile forms.
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Great information! Yes, Whitman will give you an early financial aid guarantee upon request, Wooster will give you a reliable early estimate direct from an admissions officer & not a computer, and Cornell College (Iowa) will provide your financial aid package immediately upon acceptance, starting in December.
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Northeastern offers an early read of financial aid applications for ED applicants. If the final aid award is significantly below the early read, a student would be released from the ED agreement.
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Importantly, this pre-read is only for need based aid, they do not estimate merit. And it’s only for domestic applicants.
I will add Northeastern to the thread I linked above!
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I understand - but it’s giving an estimate of a cost of attendance - and it includes expected loans, work study and other things.
It’s not audited as a financial aid offer would be - but it’s telling someone - should I apply, can I afford it - and that’s ultimately what someone needs to know.
That was my point.
To lack of accuracy as @Mwfan1921 pointed out is always there - and I get that too. I’d hate for someone to apply based on a # given, only to officially get a different #, assuming they filled it out accurately. But we read about these and we also read about schools being more generous than the NPC said.
But if a school is saying not to use it, then they should pull it down until it is corrected.
NPCs are better than nothing, but I agree if you can get an actual financial pre-read, that is much better still.
To the OP, I would just note it really doesn’t hurt to politely ask (well in advance). Worst case scenario, they say no, but it would still count as solid demonstrated interest in the event that means you can’t apply ED.
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I’m always a fan of answering the questions that the OP asks or probing to get additional information. Posting, “Are there circumstances that lead you to believe the NPC would be inaccurate for you?” would have been better, IMO, than “Isn’t an NPC # basically this ?”
Wouldn’t it be great if you can upload your FAFSA & CSS to a central system and NPC used that info to give you accurate estimates (say within 10%) at all US colleges so that families can easily rule out colleges they obviously can’t afford?
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OP is clearly just building a database and I provided Whitman, Cornell and Wooster so I don’t think the question of why do you need a pre-read vs. an NPC would be relevant here.
@Bill_Marsh Cornell College (Iowa) will provide you before you apply - some get in September - through their Save Your Seat program. You just fill out a simple form - so much earlier that upon admission.
Of course, they also guarantee a minimum $30K merit - so there’s that too - for all. I like the term they use - Price First Admission Model.
Apparently, they had great success - or at least they said so. And rolled it out again for this year.
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Muhlenberg College offers an early Financial aid review
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It would! If I was in charge of US educational policy, this is one of the things I would have high on my agenda, an evolution of the NPC requirement into something much more robust and reliable.
And then I would use it to help do a Questbridge-style matching program for far more people. But that is a whole other subject.
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Also, Brandeis added a new cost calculator tool to their website that includes merit aid called “Faye”. My daughter is a senior there (and loves it!) and I can tell you from personal experience that their financial aid office is always very available and helpful. So if Faye doesn’t give you what you need, it’s easy to get connected with a human who will answer your questions.
https://www.brandeis.edu/student-financial-services/affordability.html
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Dartmouth College, the College of Wooster and Denison all did this for my daughter who applied last year. I think, at Dartmouth, it was tied to her Dartmouth Bound participation. The College of Wooster offered before she applied, and Denison offered after she had applied RD in an effort to convince her to switch to ED as part of a partnership with her school district. It was very helpful, but also very close to what the NPC had indicated at Dartmouth and Wooster, while the package offered from Denison was more generous than the NPC had indicated.
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