About Net Price Calculators
Higher Education Opportunity Act Mandate
The calculator shall
be developed in a manner that enables current and prospective students, families,
and consumers to determine an estimate of a current or prospective student’s individual
net price at a particular institution.
(HEOA 2008, Title I, Part C, Section 132)
Between now and mid-2011, more than 7,000 postsecondary institutions receiving Title
IV funds will be choosing how to meet the net price calculator (NPC) requirement of the
Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008.
The federal legislation mandates that any postsecondary institution that receives
federal student aid funds and enrolls first-time, full-time undergraduate
students must post an NPC on its web site by October 29, 2011.
Elise Miller, program director for the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated
Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), stated the idea behind the requirement
plainly:
We just want to
break down the myth of sticker price and get beyond it. This is to give students
some indication that they will not [necessarily] be paying that full price.