
Episode 18 - Estimating College Costs with Net Price Calculators
From Tom Talks College by Tom Kleese (Owner of OnCampus College Planning)
May 8, 2023 · 37 min · Season 2 · Episode 18
About this episode
This episode explores how to use Net Price Calculators to estimate college costs and financial aid.
Part 3 of our College + Money series digs into a tool you can find on (almost) any college website called a Net Price Calculator. The best versions help you estimate merit and need-based aid, and I'll show you how to spot the good, the bad, and the potentially game-changing ones. As with parts 1 and 2, you can access key information on our blog and get an added bonus of "why my fictitious third son is going to Vanderbilt on a sweet deal".
People in this episode
Host: Tom Kleese
Topics covered
- college costs
- net price calculators
- financial aid
- merit aid
- need-based aid
Keywords
- college costs
- net price calculator
- financial aid
- merit aid
- need-based aid
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Vanderbilt
More episodes of Tom Talks College
- Episode 27 - Liberal arts colleges make sense · May 26, 2026 · 16 min
- Episode 26 - ACT Mythbusters: What’s Actually True in 2026 · January 15, 2026 · 20 min
- Episode 25 - The Power of Planning Essays and Applications Together · December 8, 2025 · 17 min
- Episode 24 - How do I find the right colleges, and where do we start? · April 24, 2025 · 13 min
- Episode 23 - How do college applications work? · March 20, 2025 · 6 min
- Episode 22 - 8 Takeaways from 11 Campus Visits · March 26, 2024 · 34 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Tom Talks College podcast page.