Transcript Net Price Calculator

Net Price Calculator
Al Hermsen – Wayne State University
Diane Fleming – Central Michigan University.
Net Price Calculator
• On October 29, 2009, U.S. Dept of Education made available a
template for this calculator that institutions may use
• Institutions have 2 years from the release of the template to post
a calculator on their own institutional websites
• An institution may use either the net price calculator developed
by NCES or it may develop its own
– Institutionally developed calculators must include “at a
minimum the same data elements” found in the NCES
calculator
• Dept of ED will not collect data for the calculator
Background
• HEOA Definition of Net Price
Institution’s
price of
attendance for
FTFT students
Price of attendance =
average annual cost of
tuition and fees, room and
board, books, supplies, and
transportation
Total need- and merit-based federal,
state, and institutional grant aid
awarded to FTFT students
Number of FTFT students receiving
such aid
Minimum Data Elements -Inputs
Input elements must include:
• Data elements to approximate the student’s
Estimated Family Contribution (EFC), such as
income, number in family, and dependency status
or factors that estimate dependency status*
*An institution may use either Federal
Methodology or Institutional Methodology to
approximate the student’s EFC.
Minimum Data Elements -Outputs
Output elements must include:
• Estimated total price of attendance;
• Estimated tuition and fees;
• Estimated room and board;
• Estimated books and supplies;
• Estimated other expenses (personal expenses, transportation, etc.);
• Estimated total grant aid;
• Estimated net price;
• Percent of the cohort (full-time, first-time students) that received grant
aid; and
• Caveats and disclaimers, as indicated in the HEOA.
Net Price Calculator Template
• Process
– NCES worked with the Office of Postsecondary
Education (OPE) to oversee development of the
template
– A Technical Review Panel (TRP) meeting was held
in January 2009
• Keep template simple and usable for all Title IV
institutions
• Recognize that institutions have an interest in
customizing their calculators
Net Price Calculator Template
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/resource
How it Works
• 2 applications:
– Institution application – institutions use this to input
data of prices and grant aid and to set up the
application
– Student application – institutions place this on their
websites for use by students, parents, etc.
Net Price Calculator Template
• How It Works
www.institution.edu/....
Institutional Data
Maintenance
Application
User
Application
Institution App
• Institution accesses template
– Answers a few screening questions to set up tables for
data entry
– Enters Table 1: Price of Attendance for Full-time, Firsttime Undergraduate Students
• Estimates of expenses for tuition & fees, room & board, other
expenses, as reported on IC
– Enters Table 2: Grants & Scholarships for Full-time, Firsttime Undergraduate Students
• Median amounts by EFC income range
– Enters up to 3 context notes
Then, the magic…
• Zip file is created that contains the net price
calculator customized with institution’s own
data
• File is downloaded by institution, and then put
on institution’s own website
• Calculator can be further customized to include
institution’s name, logo, etc.
Student App
• Student accesses net price calculator from
institution’s website
– Enters a few items such as age, where they plan to
live, marital status, income
• Based on student input, application uses a “look
up” table to find an estimated net price that
students with similar characteristics paid in a
prior year
Student App
Screen 1:
User
answers
basic
questions
If student answers, no,
sent to output screen
and shows net price for
non-FAFSA filers
If student answers >23,
then considered
independent.
Determines which cost
of attendance to use to
calculate net price.
Student App
Screen 2:
User answers
questions
 If married,
assumer
independent.
 If have
dependent
children,
assume
independent.
 Else,
assumes
dependent
Dependency status the used as one
characteristic in EFC “look up” table
Student App
Screen 3:
User answer
questions
Each used as
characteristics in
median EFC “look up”
table
Student App
Screen 4:
User reviews
information
entered
Behind the
scenes:
Application
“looks up”
median EFC
(from ED data
built into
template) and
cost of
attendance
(from
institutionentered data).
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Student App Results
Output:
Produce
net price
output
Estimated
net price
Explanations
and caveats
Assistance for Downloading
Application
Contact Ruba Nuwayhid of IT Innovative Solutions
(240) 252-1707, or [email protected]
Net Price Calculator
Initiatives to Implement
Al Hermsen
Director of Financial Aid
Wayne State University
[email protected]
Voluntary System of Accountability
• Developed through a partnership between
NASULGC and AASCU with funding from
Lumina
• Three Components: Student & Family
Information, Core Educational Outcomes, and
Campus Student Engagement
• Net Cost Calculator is part of the Student &
Family Component
VSA Calculator demo
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Step 1: Housing, Dependency, Residency
Step 2: Parents marital status, income, taxes
Step 3: Student income, tax, #family, # college
Step 4: GPA, other options
Step 5: Results: COA and Est. Grants,
Loans/Work-study, EFC
Concerns
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Does Template fit your school picture/goals
How much complexity do we build in
Time frame for calculator
Merit Aid component
Outside scholarships?
Who
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Who sets goals
Who sets up the programs
Who does updates
Who evaluates
Who knows how much work this is
NET PRICE CALCULATOR
CMU-STYLE
Diane Lambart Fleming
Associate Director – Programs & Client Services
Scholarships & Financial Aid
Central Michigan University
989-774-7429
[email protected]
IN THE BEGINNING…
• Identified the following offices as key players:
Scholarships & Financial Aid
Bursar
Admissions
IT
Institutional Research
Budget & Planning
• Scheduled first meeting for August, 2009
• The Bursar’s Office took the lead for this project
•Discussed merits of using NCES template or develop in-house
NPC
• Clarified intent of the law that NPC focuses on providing
information for first-time, full-time students
IN THE BEGINNING…(cont.)
• A core committee was formed from:
Scholarships & Financial Aid
Bursar
Institutional Technology
• Decision to use best features of NCES template and
customize it for CMU
Use NCES disclaimer language in CMU NPC
 Link to FAFSA4caster website to determine dependency
status and EFC
• Determine what office(s) provides “look-up” tables to IT for
COA components
• OSFA provides “look-up” tables for gift assistance and loan
eligibility
IN THE INTERIM…
• The committee met monthly to review the progress
of the NPC. Committee assignments included:
 Review all language on NPC
 Develop explanatory “Notes” for NPC
 Test logic
 Test logic
 TEST LOGIC!!!
• Determine where the NPC link will be on your
website:
http://netconnect.cmich.edu/netpricecalculator/
•Registrar’s website
OSFA website
…AND THEN IT WAS DONE!
• The NPC was designed to provide information
about additional resources, e.g., PLUS,
institutional scholarships, CMU Payment Plan
and links to financial aid and admissions
websites
• NPC begins – and ends – with disclaimer
language
• Requested IT develop a counter to determine
number of visitors to NPC website