FAQ
Is this official, or affiliated with the Department of Education?
No. College Cost Report is an independent tool. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by any college or the US Department of Education. What connects us to the government is the data: every figure in your report comes from the Department's public College Scorecard. We do the work of pulling your colleges together into one comparison, but we don't speak for any school or the Department.
What is net price, and how is it different from the sticker?
The sticker, or cost of attendance, is the full published price before any aid, the number on the college's website. Net price is the cost of attendance minus the average grant and scholarship aid students receive, so it is what families actually pay. Net price is the number that decides affordability, and it is often far below the sticker. Comparing colleges on sticker alone is how families rule out the wrong ones.
Will my exact aid offer match the number you show?
Not necessarily, and we won't pretend otherwise. The net price in your report is the average that families in your income band paid, in the most recent year the government reports. Your own offer depends on your full financial picture and can land above or below that average. Use the report to compare colleges and decide which are worth an application, then confirm the exact figure with each college's own net price calculator and, once you apply, your FAFSA and aid letters. This is not financial advice.
What if I don't know a college's exact name?
You don't need it. Type the name the way you'd say it, "Michigan" or "Ohio State" or "UCLA," and we match it to the right main campus in the federal data before pulling anything. You don't need official names, ID numbers, or spelling that matches the school's letterhead.
Does the report include earnings and debt?
Yes. Alongside cost, each college shows median earnings ten years after students entered, and the median debt of students who borrowed, plus graduation and admission rates. That way price sits next to what the degree tends to return and what students tend to owe, and the report flags the strongest earnings-to-debt on your list.
How recent is the data?
We use the most recent year available in the College Scorecard for each figure. The Scorecard is updated by the Department of Education, and reporting years for cost, earnings, and outcomes can differ because they are measured over different periods. The report reflects the latest figures the Scorecard publishes at the time you run it.
Do you offer refunds?
The first college on your list is checked and shown before you're charged, so you can confirm we have real data for your shortlist before you pay anything. Because the full report is a digital PDF delivered instantly on payment, it is not refundable once generated. If something goes wrong with delivery, contact us and we'll make it right.
