By YOUNG MONEY Staff
18 March 2011

The price of attending college has soared over the past few decades. Columbia University, Boston College, Vanderbilt University and Tufts University are all over $50,000 per year when costs like room and board are factored in - and they're the norm, not the exception. Nonetheless, the costs students incur often vary, with some receiving financial aid and scholarships, and others paying full price.

EduLaunchPad.com announced it has created a Net Price Calculation to its college search engine to help students ascertain the exact costs they'll pay at the college they choose to attend. The program is helpful because instead of the one size fits all model that shows the highest total cost a student would pay, the tool lets students compare and contrast various schools.

"EduLaunchpad is the first college search engine which allows students and parents to actually see and compare thousands of colleges' net prices side by side, rather than having to individually search out each school." says Scott Anderson, President and founder of EduLaunchpad.com.

The search engine takes the trouble of finding the costs of college out of the equation; instead of searching through a college's website for hours trying to total up all the hidden costs and fees, EduLaunchpad.com does the legwork for you. When students search for colleges now the calculated net price will come up as well - something that could soon become a standard, said Anderson.

"We are excited to be the first ones to bring this to market." said Brad Woodard, Vice-President and co-founder of EduLaunchpad.com. The site's net price calculator incorporates a student's basic information including financial aid calculations, GPA and SAT and ACT scores, and then compares that information with historical data from schools to calculate how much a student would have to pay to attend that school.

"It's like the difference between knowing the sticker price of a car; and knowing what your costs will be after rebates, dealer discounts, and your used car’s trade-in value," affirmed Anderson. The tool is incredibly useful for high school students because a student's performance in high school and his financial resources has a significant impact on the amount of money he will pay in tuition.

For example, a low income student with good grades and solid test scores in high school could pay $10,000 to $20,000 per year to attend a state school, according to EduLaunchpad.com; if that same student were to apply to a private institution with a generous financial aid program, he or she could end up paying under $5,000 per year conceivably.

If you're applying to college and you're worried about cost, you should try out the website's tool here.