An Accurate Cost of College

The cost of attending a higher institution can be daunting to many graduating high school seniors, as well as their families. However, with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, all institutions that enroll full time and first time graduate students, as well as those that receive Title IV funds, must implement a new tool -- the net price calculator, which provides families with an initial estimate of their financial aid package and the net price that they will face if they enroll.

The calculator is now mandatory in all institutions that meet the requirements as of October 29, 2011. Janet Chen, Director of Government Relations at the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance in Washington, D.C, says that although the calculator is a new concept for many, "it has the potential to show younger students that college is possible [and] to show low income students that more expensive colleges can be affordable to them." The goal of the calculator is to encourage incoming college students that the sticker price of schools may not be the determining factor about whether attending or not is feasible.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• financial aid
• net-price calculator
• Cornell University