By David Leonhardt A simplified financial-aid calculator — much easier to use than the federally mandated calculators that most colleges create — has begun spreading beyond Wellesley College, where it began two years ago. The spread, to the University of Virginia and Williams College, starting Monday, raises the possibility that more colleges will follow and […]
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Financial Aid, Simplified: A Better College Calculator
By David Leonhardt The financial-aid calculators maintained by colleges are a case study in both flawed bureaucracy and flawed customer service. As part of a 2008 higher-education law, Congress required colleges to build the calculators — online tools to let families estimate how much they’d really have to pay to attend a specific college. The […]
Why students have no idea what college actually costs
Some of the best low-income students don’t even bother to apply to colleges with the most aid. Why? Blame misleading data. By Danielle Paquette ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The teenager stapled together his family’s pay stubs, tax returns and credit card statements. He slid them into his red North Face backpack, between the Advanced Placement calculus […]
An Economics Professor’s Guide to Figuring out How Much College Costs
Calculating college costs can be utterly baffling. Phillip B. Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley College, argues that every school should offer a simplified financial aid calculator — or risk losing talented low-income prospects.
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