One of the provisions of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 requires all institutions of higher learning that receive federal financial aid to post net-price calculators on their websites.
This mandate commendably aims to give families a better sense of overall college costs, but its method for achieving the goal is misguided.
The U.S. Department of Education provides a template for a net-price calculator, but its reductionist approach gives estimates that “may diverge significantly” from actual costs, according to director of Student Financial Aid Bill Schilling.
Given the complicated nature of the financial aid determination process, every easy estimate forfeits some degree of precision. Inaccurate aid estimates can prove detrimental for applicants and their families by providing misinformation and false expectations.
Fortunately, the Act does allow schools to forgo the template and develop calculators specifically tailored to their individual needs. Penn is currently in talks with third-party vendors to do so.
But there are better ways for the University to achieve greater transparency in its financial aid process. It already offers large amounts of no-loan aid and devotes significant resources toward making applicants aware that a Penn education is affordable. An over-simplified net-price calculator is unnecessary.
How useful do you think a net-price calculator will be? Send us a letter to the editor to share your thoughts: letters@theDP.com.
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