(GEN-13-07) (GEN-13-07) Subject: Guidance on Implementing the Net Price Calculator Requirement

1)

When and how often do colleges have to update their net price calculators?
We expect institutions to update their calculators on an annual basis when new data become available. Please note that cost of attendance data and grant aid data should align and be from the same year. Institutions using the Department's net price calculator template will need to update their net price calculators after the Department posts updated versions for each award year. The latest version of the Department template uses 2011-2012 data, and the Department plans to release updated versions in January annually. For example, the Department template for 2012-2013 data is planned to be released in January 2014. We will notify institutions when an updated template is released via the Information for Financial Aid Professionals Web site and other channels, such as "This Week in IPEDS."

2)

Where on my institution's Web site should the net price calculator reside?
The HEA provides that an institution must make a net price calculator available on its Web site, but it does not specify where on the Web site it must be located. We strongly urge institutions to make their calculators easy to find by posting them prominently in locations where students and families are likely to look for information on costs and aid, such as on the Financial Aid, Prospective Students, or Tuition and Fees pages of the institution's Web site. It might be helpful for institutions to refer to a recent report of the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative, which includes suggestions on how to make required disclosures more accessible and understandable to consumers. The report is available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010831rev. In particular, the report recommends that information be available with a minimum amount of searching on a Web site, meaning within no more than three clicks from the home page.

3)

Can I rename the Net Price Calculator when posting it to my institution's Web site?
Since the HEA provides that institutions must "make publicly available on the institution's website a net price calculator…," the calculator posted to your institution's Web site must be called "Net Price Calculator" in order to be in full statutory compliance.

4)

Is there a minimum number of full-time, first-time students for which a Net Price Calculator is required?
An institution that has any full-time, first-time students, no matter how few, must have a net price calculator. If necessary, the institution should consider using data for multiple years of full-time, first-time students in order to make the calculator more robust. An institution that is only a graduate/professional school that does not enroll any full-time, first-time students is not required to have a net price calculator on its Web site.

5)

Can I include loans in the net price calculator?
The HEA requires that an institution's net price calculator clearly present a student's estimated individual net price. The definition of net price is the amount that a student pays to attend an institution in a single academic year after subtracting scholarships and grants – forms of financial aid that a student does not have to pay back. To be in full statutory compliance, an institution must provide a net price calculation that does not take loans into consideration.