The real cost of college — on your side
Find colleges your student can get into —and your family can afford.
Build your college list with honest Reach / Target / Likely odds and your real 4-year price — not the sticker. Personalized to your income, state, GPA, and major, with a full cost report as the proof.
Estimated four-year net price · Rice University
Cost: ✓ Safe · on income$20,562
After grants and scholarships — before any borrowing
Four-year sticker price
$429,750
Estimated free aid
−$409,188
Paid by student & family
5%
A real sample — Rice accepts 8%, yet for a $65k Texas family it’s ✓ Safe money. Open the sample report →
Official College Scorecard dataYour data stays in this browserFree — no account needed
The problem
College pricing is confusing on purpose. We make it clear.
A typical award letter
“Financial Aid Package: $45,500”
⚠ 60% of this “aid” is debt — and the letter never says what Year 3 costs.
The same offer in CollegeLuma
Then the parts the letter leaves out: the four-year projection (including aid that fades after Year 1), the monthly loan payment against a real starting salary, and a plain Safe / Stretch / Risky verdict for your family’s income.
Sticker shock is not your price
The published price and what your family actually pays can be tens of thousands apart.
Aid that shrinks after Year 1
First-year packages are often front-loaded. Grants fade, and Year 3 costs more than the letter suggested.
Debt you can't picture
“$27,000 in loans” is abstract. A monthly payment against a realistic starting salary is not.
Offers that don't line up
Every school formats its award letter differently. Comparing them fairly is nearly impossible by hand.
How it works
See your real numbers in 3 steps
[ 1 ]
Build a balanced list
Honest Reach / Target / Likely admission framing, grouped so one opaque ranking never hides the trade-offs — or bring the schools you already have in mind.
UT Rio Grande Valley
$21,194 4-yr net
[ 2 ]
Tell us about your family
Five quick questions — income, family size, state, GPA, school — or the full form if you prefer. Skip anything you're not sure of; your answers are saved on your device, not by us.
What does your household earn in a year?
[ 3 ]
Get the proof, not a pitch
A four-year projection, a Safe / Stretch / Risky verdict, the monthly payment after graduation, and award letters decoded — free money split from debt, always.
Est. four-year net price
$20,562
Cost: ✓ Safe · on incomeWhat you get
Everything you need to judge cost and value
Affordability Verdict
A plain Safe, Stretch, or Risky rating with every criterion behind it shown.
Know instantly whether a school fits your budget — and exactly why.
4-Year Projection
Year-by-year costs, including aid that fades after Year 1.
No first-year-only surprises when the renewal terms kick in.
Debt Reality Check
Total loans weighed against the expected starting salary for your major.
See the real monthly payment after graduation, not an abstract total.
Compare Real Offers
Up to 6 schools side by side; upload actual award letters (PDF) to decode and save them.
Compare real offers on equal footing, not rough estimates.
What-If Scenarios
Pell lost, a scholarship not renewed, a 5th year, income changes.
See the impact before it happens instead of after it's too late.
Decision Support
Deadline tracker, next-steps checklist, printable family report, and an aid-appeal letter generator.
Turn the numbers into actions — and negotiate with confidence.
What families discover here
The numbers are full of surprises
Private ≠ pricier
At a $65,000 income, Williams College projects at $24,251 for four years — less than UMass Amherst, the state's flagship public, at $55,208.
Run it live →
Reach school, Safe money
Rice accepts 8% of applicants — yet for a median-income Texas family it rates ✓ Safe at $20,562 for four years.
Run it live →
The sticker is not the price
Iowa State at an $80k income: grants take about 25% off the sticker before a single loan is considered.
Run it live →
Loans are never “aid”
Award letters count loans as aid. We never do — $0 of a loan reduces your real cost, and our reports say so.
Run it live →
Studying from abroad?
No FAFSA doesn’t mean no aid — about 46 U.S. schools publish full-need promises to international students, and those are the only ones we’ll estimate. Honest sticker-minus-merit everywhere else, plus the I-20 proof-of-funds amount.
The sample report
See the whole story on one school
Rice University for a Texas family of four earning $65,000: a 8%-acceptance Reach where the money is ✓ Safe — full-need aid takes a $429,750 sticker down to $20,562 for four years. The sample is clearly labeled, and one click clears it to run your own numbers.
Open the sample report →Everything is computed live from real data — nothing is mocked.
Why it matters
Decide with clarity instead of stress
- ✓Stop overpaying because the pricing was confusing
- ✓Negotiate aid with real numbers, not guesses
- ✓Build a balanced list of financial safeties and reaches
- ✓Keep the whole plan in one place — not 17 tabs and a spreadsheet
FAQ
Common questions
How much does college actually cost after financial aid?
A college's sticker price is rarely what your family pays. Your real cost is the total cost of attendance minus grants and scholarships — the money you never repay. Loans lower this year's bill but are debt, not a discount, so they don't reduce the true cost. CollegeLuma projects your real cost across all four years, not just Year 1.
What is the SAI (Student Aid Index)?
The SAI is the number the FAFSA uses — starting with the 2024-25 form — in place of the old Expected Family Contribution (EFC). It drives your Pell Grant eligibility and how much financial need a school sees. CollegeLuma estimates your SAI from your income and family size, and lets you enter your actual SAI once you have it for a more accurate result.
How do I compare financial aid offers from different colleges?
Put every offer into the same format so you're comparing the same things. CollegeLuma decodes award letters — including PDF uploads — and lines up as many as four schools side by side (more than three will be part of CollegeLuma Plus, free during early access). It compares them on real out-of-pocket cost, how much of the bill aid actually covers, and the monthly loan payment you'd face after graduation.
What's the difference between grants and loans in an award letter?
Grants and scholarships are free money you never repay. Loans must be paid back with interest. Award letters often list them together, which makes an offer look bigger than the free aid really is. CollegeLuma always separates grants from loans so you can see the free money apart from the debt.
Is CollegeLuma free?
Yes — the calculator, College Finder and Family Report are free. CollegeLuma Plus, coming soon, will add more comparisons, saved scenarios and AI write-ups. No account is needed, and your family's details stay on your device unless you choose to send something.
Where does CollegeLuma's data come from?
School figures come from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, covering more than 2,000 US colleges, two-year colleges included, and the aid math uses the official FAFSA formulas for each award year. Results are planning estimates, not guarantees of the aid a school will actually offer.
Will my financial aid stay the same all four years?
Often not. Pell Grants can change if your income changes, merit scholarships usually carry GPA renewal conditions, and some packages are front-loaded toward Year 1. CollegeLuma projects cost year by year and flags aid that fades after the first year.
Know the real cost before you commit.
Official College Scorecard dataYour data stays in this browserFree — no account needed