Net Price Calculator
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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).
17
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