As of October 2011, the federal government now requires all colleges and universities to have a “net price calculator” on their websites.  This requirement, put in place as part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, came about in large part because most students pay a price that is less than the institution’s published tuition and fees.  More than 80 percent of the students at private institutions, and significant numbers of students at public colleges, receive institutional grants.

The goal of the act is to provide consumers with a systematic and consistent way of estimating what the net price of each college they are thinking about attending will actually be. The design of these calculator’s and the issues that colleges will face in deciding what to reveal, how to present the information, and what they tell consumers are many and complex.  Below are some articles to help you access the relative pros and cons of these new tools.

Articles:

Net Price Calculators: Wins and Warnings,  Source - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Student Aid Transcript, Volume 21 - NASFAA’s Student Aid Transcript magazine (Volume 21, No. 3) features several articles about Net Price Calculators.

New Online Tools Expected to Lift Veil on College Sticker Prices, Source - U.S. News and World Report

Calculating Costs and Benefits,  Source - Inside Higher Education

Federal Committee: Net-Price Calculators Have Potential, and Pitfalls, Source - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Tips to make the most of online calculator of college costs,  Source - USA Today

The Net Price Calculator: Financial Aid ‘Game-Changer’?,  Source - New York Times