College · Family Resources

Which colleges fit
what you want?

A college list gets clearer once you write down what you want and how much each part matters. Answer the questions, give each factor a weight, then rate every college on your list. The tool compares each net price with your budget, scores every college out of 100 and shows which ones stretch the money.

Start a match profileWhat you get

Match profiles

The worked example is made up, including every college: a biology student with three colleges, an undecided student who wants a city and a music student whose one college is over budget. Saved on this device only.

Loading the match profile form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

College · Family ResourcesFree

What you finish with
A match profile: what you want in a college, a 1-to-5 weight for five factors and every college on your list scored out of 100, with cost fit worked out from net price and your budget, colleges over budget named and a printable sheet of questions to ask each one.
Who it is for
High school students building a college list, and the parents, guardians and school counselors helping them.
Format
Browser questionnaire with a saved profile per student. Prints the profile, a sheet of questions to ask colleges, every profile in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Family Resources space in Caveat College.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Fill in the search and the budget.
  2. Say what you want.
  3. Weight the five factors.
  4. Rate each college on your list.
  5. Print the questions for your visits.

Start a match profile

Reading a match score

How net price becomes a cost fitNet price, compared with the budgetCost fitWhat to doAt or under the budget5Affordable as it standsUp to 10% over4Ask about merit aid10% to 25% over3Needs a plan to close the gap25% to 50% over2Only with outside scholarshipsMore than 50% over1Keep it only beside a sure optionHow net price becomes a cost fitAt or under the budgetCost fit: 5What to do: Affordable as it standsUp to 10% overCost fit: 4What to do: Ask about merit aid10% to 25% overCost fit: 3What to do: Needs a plan to close the gap25% to 50% overCost fit: 2What to do: Only with outside scholarshipsMore than 50% overCost fit: 1What to do: Keep it only beside a sure option
The cost fit counts with the weight you gave cost after aid, like every other factor.

How the score works

Each college gets a fit from 1 to 5 on five factors. Four come from your own ratings; cost fit comes from the table, using the net price you found for that college. Each fit is multiplied by the weight you gave the factor, added up and shown as a share of the best possible total. A college rated 5 on everything scores 100.

The score sorts your own judgment; it does not know anything about a college you did not tell it. Two colleges a few points apart are a tie.

Net price, not sticker price

Net price is the cost of attendance minus grants and scholarships: what a family pays from savings, income and loans. Every college that takes federal student aid must post a net price calculator on its website, and results differ a lot between colleges with the same sticker price. Run each college’s own calculator with the same family figures before you trust a cost fit.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education. College Scorecard: graduation rates, typical earnings and average net price (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
  2. Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, 20 U.S.C. 1015a(h): colleges taking federal aid must post a net price calculator.
  3. National Center for Education Statistics. College Navigator: enrollment, setting and costs (nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator).
  4. Federal Student Aid. Cost of attendance and net price explained (studentaid.gov).
  5. Common Data Set Initiative. Section I: class sizes and student-to-faculty ratio (commondataset.org).

The worked example is made up, including every college and every figure. The match score sorts your own ratings and weights; it is not a ranking of colleges or a prediction of admission. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.