What is a Financial Aid Calculator?

Getting a higher education is a very expensive proposition--costing thousands of dollars per year. The maze of grants, scholarships and financial aid can be tricky to navigate. Luckily, alongside the growth of the Internet, resources have been developed online to help students and their families calculate the costs of attending a two-year or four-year school, as well as determine their eligibility for financial aid. Many organizations offer financial aid calculators online, which you can use to calculate various costs and more.

Here's a few types of calculators you can find through various Web sites, including the College Board's site and the sites of many lending institutions:

• Expected Family Contribution Calculator
  • Helps you figure out how much your family will be expected to pay for your education.
    • College Cost Calculator: Helps you determine how much college is going to cost.
• College Savings Calculator
  • Helps you find out if your savings plan is on the right track.
• Student Loan Calculator
  • Helps you determine your monthly payments.
  • May also allow you to figure out an expected starting salary, so you can see how much those monthly payments will affect your wallet.

Financial Aid Calculators
The main type of calculator you'll want to use when determining your eligibility for financial aid and your need to take out additional loans to pay for your education is the Expected Family Contribution Calculator. You can use these tools to figure out how much money your family will be expected to contribute toward the cost of your schooling. By getting this estimate, you'll be able to create a budget that helps you cover your share of the cost. Another benefit of these tools is the insight they provide into your eligibility for financial aid. The difference between the total cost of schooling and your Expected Family Contribution is called your "financial need," and represents the amount of aid you can get.

What Does the Calculator Do?
First, a financial aid calculator can help you determine how much you'll be expected to pay. The Expected Family Contribution is the result of this calculation. Then, you can usually use the calculator to figure out the cost of attending various schools. The result of this calculation will demonstrate your eligibility for federal need-based aid based on your expected family contribution as well as the cost of attending specific schools. A Big Help Financial aid calculators are a great first step in helping you figure out what you'll need to pay---and what you'll end up borrowing---to pay for college. Once you've completed this informal step, you'll want to get to the real thing and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which ultimately will end up letting you know exactly how much money you can expect from the federal government.

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