How this number is made
College prices have often risen faster than general inflation. This page grows one year of cost at the rate you type, then adds four years with that inflation still running. Aid is not subtracted.
- One year of cost is tuition, housing, and the rest, after the aid you already know, if you want a net price.
- The inflation rate is an assumption. Four percent is not a forecast.
Formula
Freshman year = today’s cost × (1 + inflation) ^ years. The next three years each grow one more year. The total is the sum.
Worked example
With the figures already in the form, four years of cost is $176,003.
Questions
Where are scholarships?
Subtract them from today’s cost if they are a percent you expect to keep, or from the total if they are a fixed grant. The page does not invent aid.
Why is the four-year total more than four times freshman year?
Because inflation keeps running during the degree.