College Cost Estimators
What will BU cost you?
Use the MyinTuition quick cost estimator to get a ballpark idea of what need-based financial aid you might be offered – in about 3 minutes.
Use the Net Price Calculator for a more thorough assessment and a more precise estimate of what need-based financial aid you might be offered – in about 30 minutes.
Which calculator should you use?
MyinTuition is a quick cost estimator designed for prospective domestic first-year undergraduate students. It takes about 3 minutes to complete and is meant to suggest a ballpark estimate of need-based financial aid and net cost. The Net Price Calculator takes 30 – 40 minutes to complete, requires that you gather income and asset information from your financial documents, is more thorough, and may provide a more precise estimate of scholarships and grants, and the portion of BU costs you might be expected to cover; the net price.
What do you need to know before you get started?
- Paying for a first-class university education is a good investment in your future. To help make that investment affordable, Boston University will meet the full calculated need of all first-year students eligible for BU need-based scholarships. That’s affordableBU! These awards will increase at the same percentage rate of any future tuition increase.
- BU uses a unique calculation to determine your family contribution for 4 years. The calculation assumes that younger siblings in high school will enroll in college and older siblings currently in college will graduate. Your MyinTuition results will reflect BU’s unique calculation. However, the Net Price Calculator will not – so keep that in mind as a caveat.
- Neither calculator is designed to work for transfer, returning, or graduate students.
- If you receive scholarship aid from Boston University it will never be reduced in future years, even if your income goes up or the number of children in the household attending college goes down – guaranteed by the BU Scholarship Assurance!
What will the Calculator tell you?
If you’re a prospective undergraduate student, this online tool will help you and your family estimate the amount of financial aid you could be offered and the net amount you may be expected to pay toward the cost of attending BU. In other words, you’ll have a personalized estimate of your family’s net cost after taking your projected need-based financial aid into account.
How do they work?
When you begin using the calculator, you’ll be asked to provide financial information about you and your family. It will be helpful to have your parents’ and your own latest tax returns on hand for reference, as well as savings, investment, and other asset information. After completing the questionnaire, you’ll get an estimate of your projected need-based financial aid from BU (grants, need-based scholarships, work-study, and other awards). You’ll also see an estimate of the remaining cost you and your family would be expected to pay or finance. The entire process should take about 20 minutes.
If you use the Net Price Calculator and you register and sign in with your College Board user name and password, you can save your BU results and use the calculator again to estimate your net price at other universities. That way, you can compare estimated financial aid and the net price projections of different schools. In some cases, you may find that the university with the higher sticker price may actually have a lower net price for you.
How accurate is it?
Your results from our calculators will be only as reliable as the information you provide. Keep in mind that the calculated amount of financial aid is an estimate, not an official offer. The estimate provided using these calculators does not represent a final determination, or actual award, of financial aid. The price of attendance and other factors may change. These estimates shall not be binding on the U.S. Secretary of Education, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or Boston University.
BU Financial Assistance will determine your actual award amount based on your CSS/Financial Aid Profile™ application, your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and other supporting documents.
What about merit-based scholarships?