How We Estimate True Annual Cost

The College Scorecard's net price is the average yearly cost after grant and scholarship aid — tuition, fees, books, and an allowance for living expenses, minus aid. It is the best single number for "what a year costs", but the living-expenses allowance is a rough figure and does not reflect where the college actually is.

Our true annual cost adds a location-aware housing estimate on top:

true_cost = net_price + (1150 × 9 × state_housing_RPP ÷ 100)

• $1,150 — an approximate national monthly rent for a modest one-bedroom, the kind of place a student might share.
• × 9 — a nine-month academic year.
• × state housing RPP ÷ 100 — the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for housing in that state, where 100 is the national average. A state at 130 is 30% more expensive to rent in; a state at 75 is 25% cheaper.

Why it's only an estimate

• RPP is a state figure. A college in a small town in an expensive state will look pricier than it is; one in a cheap corner of a cheap state, cheaper.
• Many students live at home, in dorms with fixed pricing, or in high-cost college towns that don't match their state.
• Net price is an average across aided students; your own package could be very different. Always run the college's own net price calculator.

Use it to compare colleges against each other on a fairer footing than sticker price — not as a budget.

Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities. Back to Rankings.