The College Funding Forecaster will help you and your family estimate your total college expenses — and make a preliminary plan for paying them — based on your financial aid package. The tool also allows you to do comparisons among all colleges you are considering. This interactive resource helps you make more informed decisions about higher education by estimating your total out-of-pocket expense for a college degree.
Here is a quick rundown of how the forecaster works. Gather your financial aid offers from the colleges and enter the annual cost of attendance such as tuition, room and board, and books and supplies focusing on one college at a time. The next screen will allow you to enter in gift aid such as grants and scholarships from the college as well as any other scholarships you won from your high school or local community. Next, list anticipated aid from family members and your own contributions including cash payment arrangements or 529 plan dispersements. Lastly, enter the federal loan amount listed on your offer.
Now the forecaster will calculate the funding gap, if any, for four years by listing the cost of attendance minus the proposed aid and contributions. I like to print this page and refer to it as the “preliminary plan”. Now we can play with aid and cost amounts. In my opinion the best feature of the forecasting tool is the ability to edit the amounts and types of the aid. For example, let’s say you get a nice surprise by winning another scholarship. You can edit the scholarship section by adding the amount. Then this will automatically change your funding gap. Perhaps then the forecaster shows you have funds exceeding the cost of attendance and now you can decrease the loan amount to borrow only what you need. Remember, you can also go back and alter the indirect costs such as books for a lower cost of attendance. Think about lowering book costs by purchasing used books or consider renting your text books. Repeat the process with each college and print out the final results. Now you can compare the offers side by side to attain the best financial fit for your family.
If you need help or want to visit with an ICAN Advisor about utilizing the College Funding Forecaster, please call 877-272-4692 or book a virtual appointment at www.icansucceed.org/apt.
Jessica - ICAN Ankeny Center
