The increasingly complexity of college financial aid systems means that the process of merely figuring out college will cost has become something of a project for families. So many states have projects to help families navigate college pricing.
According to a piece in PR News:
West Virginia’s college-bound students and their families will soon have a clearer picture of their real cost of attending 13 of the state’s public colleges. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (WVHEPC) and the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education (WVCTCE) are the first state agencies in the country to support the implementation of sophisticated, online net price calculators (NPC) that will estimate merit and need-based aid for prospective college students before they apply to the colleges.
“Leaders at the Commission and the Council determined West Virginia will be a national leader in giving students and their families more and better early information about their cost of college,” said Jeff Whorley, president of Student Aid Services.
So West Virginia’s got the first, and best, net price calculator in America. West Virginia is taking the lead in informing residents about college affordability.
Well good job West Virginia, but maybe “informing families” isn’t the most important part. How about actually making college affordable?
The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 requires all American colleges to have a true price calculator on their websites by October 29, 2011.
