University Provides Web Tool to Compute Real Price of Education

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Students applying to the University of Arkansas can now get an accurate estimate of what a year of their education will cost, thanks to the Aid Calculator, a new feature on the website of the financial aid office. The calculator includes all types of student financial aid, including benefits available under the Post 9/11 GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon supplement.

“Students and their parents often look at the total price for higher education – tuition, fees, room and board – and don’t realize how much financial aid is available to help them meet those costs,” said Kattie Wing, director of financial aid. “The Aid Calculator addresses that problem by matching a prospective student’s particular financial and academic circumstances with our methods for making merit and need-based aid available.”

Federal law requires higher education institutions that offer federal student aid to have a net price calculator on their websites by Oct. 29, 2011. The University of Arkansas is among the first in the country to meet and, in fact, exceed this goal. The government offers its own version of a net price calculator to institutions, but Wing said the university chose to contract with a third-party provider, Student Aid Services Inc., and use its trademarked ThinkAhead Net Price Calculator on the financial aid website. This gave the financial aid website a calculator that maps the university’s specific aid packaging policies and requirements as well as all federal, state and institution-based aid.

“We’re very happy with the results,” said Wing. “The Aid Calculator is a great idea and something we would do even without the federal requirement.”

The calculator was installed early this spring and recently upgraded to include information about the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits available to U.S. veterans and active-duty military. The university is one of only seven schools in the country with this feature on a net price calculator.

Seventy percent of first-year University of Arkansas students receive some form of financial aid to help them pay for their education, and the Aid Calculator helps prospective students understand the different kinds of aid available. The updated version also helps clear up a common misconception.

“The Aid Calculator helps us combat the misconception that education benefits for veterans or active military reduce their eligibility for other federal, state, or institutional aid,” said Wing. “The calculator is a natural fit with our comprehensive effort to let veterans and active-duty military know we appreciate what they have done for us and that we want them here on our campus.”

This “military-friendly” innovation is the brainchild of David Childress, general manager for Student Aid Services. He is a former U.S. Army cavalry officer who was deployed to Iraq and other locations from 2000 to 2006.

“When I was applying to graduate school after serving in the Army, it was impossible to find my student aid eligibility early enough to evaluate affordability,” Childress said. “It became very important to me that our technology support veterans’ and active duty service members’ dreams of a college education. This is the only service that provides schools a way of showing veterans and current service members their total aid eligibility, net price and out-of-pocket costs.”

Wing said the university expects the Aid Calculator will improve communications with prospective students and help increase enrollment. Currently nearly 500 University of Arkansas students qualify for Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, and Wing said she hopes the new technology will help increase that number, as well.

About Student Aid Services Inc.

Student Aid Services Inc. is the nation’s leading net price calculator provider. The company’s advanced technology is customized to post-secondary institutions’ needs and budget so the company can offer prospective and current students accurate aid eligibility, net price and out-of-pocket cost estimates. Student Aid Services is a private company headquartered in Sacramento, Calif. Its affiliate, StudentAid.com, provides consumers side-by-side comparisons of aid eligibility and net prices for colleges of their choice as an early step in college planning.