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For a large number of institutions, especially those with generous merit awards, the federal template calculator will produce inaccurate net price estimates. For those institutions, as well as those that do not award merit aid, the federal template calculator gives no indication of the resources beyond grants that are available to help families meet the cost of college. As institutions increasingly become aware of the limitations and demonstrated inaccuracies of the federal template calculator, more and more are deciding to install an alternative calculator.

A highly inaccurate calculator can either discourage students from applying, because an institution appears less affordable than it is, or create a disparity between estimates and actual aid awards that disappoints—or worse, angers—students and their families.

To prevent these misperceptions, the HEOA allows, and National Center for Education Statistics encourages, institutions to use an alternative calculator as long as it meets the federal template calculator’s minimum requirements. Institutions may either build an NPC in-house or partner with an experienced third-party provider. 

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