By Yale University

If you want to learn what it will cost to attend a college, you might try looking up its tuition. But that number won’t tell you much. Going to college often costs both more and less than the tuition figure that’s posted on the website. Confused? That’s OK. Keep reading.

Going to college costs more than tuition. Students will need to travel to campus and buy books and supplies. If you live on campus, there will be charges for a dorm room and a meal plan. These expenses are worth planning for, and colleges account for them in their Estimated Cost of Attendance. This number covers the total cost of everything you should expect in an academic year, including things that won’t show up on the college’s bill. The Estimated Cost of Attendance at one college may be different for students who live on campus or who commute from home, and for students who reside in state or out of state. Because this figure tries to account for so much, it’s usually very large, but it’s not what most families pay.

Going to college often costs less than tuition. Many of the colleges with the highest Estimated Net Price offer the most generous financial aid through grants and scholarships. Unlike loans, this type of aid never needs to be repaid and can reduce a college’s cost by tens of thousands of dollars. The actual cost a family can expect pay is called their Estimated Net Price . That’s simply the college’s total cost minus the grants and scholarships presented in the financial aid offer.

For example, Yale’s Estimated Cost of Attendance is about $78,000, but the median Estimated Net Price for students receiving aid is only $13,000. A Yale Scholarship covers more than the full cost of tuition for most families who receive aid. Hundreds of students have an Estimated Net Price that’s less than $4,000. Financial aid makes a big difference!

The amount of financial aid your family can receive will depend on many factors, including your Demonstrated Financial Need—an estimate of your family’s ability to contribute towards the cost of college from income and assets.  Money offered on the basis of Demonstrated Financial Need is called Need-Based Aid; money offered on the basis of other factors like academic achievement or athletic talent is called Merit-Based Aid. Students can seek both kinds of aid from colleges, non-profit organizations, and government programs.

The good news is that it’s never been easier to get a personalized estimate of your costs before you apply. Every college provides a Net Price Calculator that generates a detailed estimate of a family’s costs using a family’s own information. Several schools—including Yale—also offer a faster Quick Cost Estimator that can generate a ballpark estimate in less than 3 minutes.

Although answering the question “How much does college really cost?” is more complicated than just looking up the tuition, a little research goes a long way. Every member of the Coalition for College is committed to providing the financial aid families need and to ensuring that students graduate with little or no loan debt.