College Affordability Profile™
Every family's path to college is different. This profile helps us personalize your affordability plan — so you can understand costs, reduce risk, and make the best decision for your future.
⏱️ Takes less than 2 minutes · Your information pre-fills your entire plan
Section 1 — Student & Family Information
📬 Parent / Guardian — Would you like to receive a copy of the plan?
Section 2 — Where Are You in Your Journey? *
📌 This helps us tailor your strategy and timeline
Section 3 — Academic Profile
🏅 Merit scholarship eligibility is tied to your GPA. Many state flagship programs — including HOPE, LIFE, and TN HOPE — require a 3.0 or higher. Your selection below will automatically determine which awards are pre-applied to your plan.
💼 Majors are listed highest to lowest earning. Starting salaries are national medians (NACE 2024). Your selection is carried through all modules — confirm directly with each school whether it's offered there.
Section 4 — School of Interest
📌 Select the school you're considering — your dream school or another strong option. Your selection will carry over to the Affordability Dashboard™ automatically, but can be changed at any time.
Section 5 — Financial Expectations
📌 We build a plan aligned with your financial comfort — not just what's available
Section 6 — Goals & Priorities
Section 7 — Consent & Next Step
Your data is used only to build your personalized plan. We do not sell or share your information.
Affordability Dashboard™
Complete the College Profile™ to personalize your dashboard.
School Selection — Pre-populated from your College Profile™
📌 Your school from the College Profile™ is pre-loaded. You may select a different school here — your plan updates instantly.
Cost of attendance (per year)
Books and other expenses start at typical figures, not this school's own: $1,308 for books and supplies and $4,038 for other expenses — transportation, laundry and personal costs — the middle of the 2024–25 figures the HBCUs in this tool report to IPEDS. Yours will vary with your home state, how far you live from campus, and your own spending. Adjust either to match your situation — everything below updates.
Pell Grant 2026–27: max $7,395 • national avg $5,218 • min $740
Default is the national average ($5,218) for conservative planning. Pell Grants are free money — no repayment required.
Federal student loans — dependent borrowing caps
Subsidized LoanGovernment pays interest while enrolled. Need-based. Rate: ~6.52% (2027–28) • 1.057% origination fee. No credit check.
Unsubsidized LoanAvailable regardless of need. Interest accrues immediately. Rate: ~6.52% (2027–28) • 1.057% origination fee. No credit check.
ⓘ Credit check note: Student loans require no credit check. Parent PLUS requires adverse credit history check on the parent.
Private student loans
Loan 1
From your offer letter.
Other financial aid
Aid from the school directly. Default $0.
National avg if awarded: ~$1,800–$2,500/yr.
UNCF, TMCF, state, private scholarships.
Parent PLUS loan ~9.07% fixed • 4.228% origination fee • $20,000/yr cap (One Big Beautiful Bill Act)
Default $0. Use the gap resolution panel below.
Standard: 10 yrs. Extend up to 25 yrs to lower monthly payments.
⚠ One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) rules, effective July 1, 2026: Parent PLUS is capped at $20,000/yr in Years 1–3 and $5,000 in Year 4 — for a $65,000 lifetime maximum per student. Requires adverse credit check. Rate: ~9.07% (2027–28). Cannot be transferred to the student.
Affordability Dashboard™ — Your Financial Picture
Total cost / year
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Annual unfunded amount
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4-year unfunded total
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Student debt (4 yrs)
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Parent PLUS (4 yrs)
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Combined household debt
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Total Cost of Attendance
—PELL Pell Grant (free money)
——MERIT Institutional & outside scholarships
——WORK Work-study & other grants
——LOANS Federal student loans (borrowed)
——PLUS Parent PLUS loan (borrowed)
——Unfunded Amount — must be resolved
—Unlock Next Module
School Comparison Engine™
Compare up to 3 schools — costs, graduation rates, match scores, and affordability side by side
$97 one-time
✓ Affordability Index Score™
✓ Side-by-side cost comparison · ✓ Best-fit recommendations
✓ Side-by-side cost comparison · ✓ Best-fit recommendations
Stripe card payments unlock automatically
School Comparison Engine™
Comparing is how you find out whether your first pick is the right financial fit. School 1 is locked to the school on your Affordability Dashboard™. Add two more below — chosen for the things that matter to you — and see how the unfunded amount, graduation rate and total cost line up side by side.
Your lifestyle preferences — used to calculate Affordability Index Score™
Schools to compare
School 1 — from your Affordability Dashboard™
locked
Select a school on the Affordability Dashboard™ first
School 2 — search by name, filter, then select from the dropdown
School 3 — search by name, filter, then select from the dropdown
Aid package (pre-filled from your Dashboard™ — adjust to test scenarios)
Unlock Next Module
Debt Burden Analysis™ + Career ROI & Earnings Engine™
See whether this degree financially works — before you borrow
$197 includes both modules
✓ Minimum Viable Salary™ · ✓ Repayment risk by major
✓ Major-to-school mismatch alerts · ✓ Parent debt burden analysis
✓ Major-to-school mismatch alerts · ✓ Parent debt burden analysis
Stripe card payments unlock automatically
Debt Burden Analysis™
Answer: "Can our family actually carry this debt?" The whole debt picture in one place — student loans, Parent PLUS and any private borrowing, with monthly payments, four-year projections, total interest, and the True Cost of Degree™.
🧑🎓 Student Loan Panel
Assumes four years of borrowing at the same share of each year’s federal cap. The caps differ by year in school, so the four years are not equal.
When repayment starts. Federal student loans are deferred while the student is enrolled at least half-time. Repayment typically begins six months after graduation or after leaving school.
👨👩👦 Parent PLUS Loan Panel — Where Families Win or Lose
Parent PLUS is different — it is not deferred. Repayment begins 60 days after the final loan disbursement unless the parent requests deferment while the student is enrolled. Contact your loan servicer to confirm your options before the first disbursement.
4-year debt projections & monthly payments
🧑🎓 Federal student loan repayment
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👨👩👦 Parent PLUS repayment
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True Cost of Degree™ — The Number Nobody Shows You
Based on this debt burden, let’s make sure you’re on a career path that can support repayment
Career ROI & Earnings Engine™
Answer: "Will this degree financially work for this family?" Compare salary potential vs. debt burden across majors and schools.
Student debt inputs (pre-filled from Dashboard™)
Both terms are seeded from Debt Burden Analysis™ when you open this tab, and you can change either one here to model a different repayment plan without altering your saved plan.
A. Salary vs. Debt Alignment
B. Student Repayment Risk Level — based on student loans only
C. Major Comparison — toggle between your primary and an alternative major
D. Parent Burden Analysis
Unlock Full Blueprint
Affordability Strategy Plan™ + What-If Simulator™
Your personalized action plan + every scenario modeled in real time
$297 full system · all remaining modules
✓ Affordability Strategy Plan™ · ✓ What-If Simulator™
✓ Full College Affordability Plan™
✓ Full College Affordability Plan™
Stripe card payments unlock automatically
Affordability Strategy Plan™
Answer: "What do we DO about this?" This is your personalized action plan — structured as a roadmap, not raw data.
Final Module
What-If Simulator™
Model every scenario — savings, major, co-op income, timeline — and see the full financial impact in real time
Included with Full Blueprint ($297)
✓ Savings impact calculator · ✓ Graduation timeline modeling
✓ Co-op income simulation
✓ Co-op income simulation
Included with the Full Blueprint ($297) — card payments unlock automatically
What-If Simulator™
Adjust variables and see how your entire financial picture shifts in real time. Small changes in planning can mean tens of thousands of dollars over 4 years.
Your planning window — based on your grade level from College Profile™
Adjust the variables — your results update instantly
💰 Monthly family savings between now and enrollment
🎓 Graduation timeline
📚 What if the student switches majors?
🏛️ State Aid — toggle eligibility
🤝 Interstate tuition agreement — model the in-state rate
💼 Co-op / internship income during school
Choose how much of your co-op earnings goes toward college costs and how much you keep for living expenses.
The portion applied reduces borrowing. The rest covers living expenses while working during the school year.
What-If Simulator™ — Updated Picture
🎓 Complete College America™ — Credit Mapping & Completion Planning
Complete College America helps students build structured credit completion pathways — the single strongest predictor of on-time graduation. Students who take 15 credits per semester and follow a structured pathway graduate at significantly higher rates. Use their tools alongside your What-If Simulator™ to see the full picture.
💡 Coming soon: The College Affordability System™ is building a formal partnership with Complete College America to bring credit mapping directly into this platform. Your school and profile will pre-populate automatically.
Where these numbers come from. Federal loan rates, borrowing caps and origination fees are published by the U.S. Department of Education for the award year shown at the top of this page. Tuition and fees, and room and board, at every college come from IPEDS — the Department's institutional data system — for the 2024–25 academic year. Graduation rates (students who entered in fall 2018), enrollment (fall 2024), campus setting and athletic association also come from IPEDS, and NCAA division from the NCAA's own directory. UNCF and TMCF membership come from each fund's member list, read in September 2026. Greek life and homecoming ratings are this tool's own judgement.
Books and supplies, and other expenses such as transportation, start at the middle of the 2024–25 figures the HBCUs in this tool report to IPEDS — typical amounts, not figures quoted by your school. You can adjust both on the Affordability Dashboard™.
Costs, program availability and aid policy change every year. Verify every figure with the school's admissions and financial aid office before making an enrollment decision. The College Affordability System™ is a planning tool — not a guarantee of availability, cost, or outcome.