Student Value Calculator: Determining Costs and Time

Choosing a college pathway involves more than comparing scholarship offers. This calculator helps you compare the true financial and time impact of three options: Scholarship Only, Scholarship + CPL, and CPL Only. Start with academic costs, then optionally include living expenses and the value of entering the workforce sooner.

For this calculator, CPL includes AP, IB, CLEP, dual enrollment, transfer credit, microcredentials, work experience, military learning, apprenticeships, workforce training, volunteering, and any other learning your institution may award for academic credit.

Your assumptions

Your Information

Core College Information

Tuition per Year ($)

Fees per Term ($)

Total Credits Needed for Your Degree

Credits Taken per Term

Which Terms Will You Attend?

FallSpringSummer

Scholarship Amount Offered

CPL Credits Offered

CPL includes AP, IB, CLEP, dual enrollment, transfer credit, microcredentials, work experience, military experience, volunteering, and other accepted learning.

CPL Fee ($)

Enter the total course, assessment, per-credit, or other fee.

Value of Your Time by Working

Hours per Month

Monthly Income ($)

No Degree

With Degree

For More Detail on the Real Costs to Consider

Optional living and attendance costs

Books and Materials per Term ($)

Parking per Term ($)

Housing per Year ($)

Food per Year ($)

Other Expenses per Year ($)

Please check your entries. CPL credits cannot exceed degree credits, and at least one term must be selected.

Your comparison

Choose the view that is most useful to you

Academic Costs Only compares tuition, scholarship value, CPL fees, institutional fees, and time to completion. Use this view for the clearest college-cost comparison.

What You Are Comparing

Simple Comparison	Scholarship Only	Scholarship + CPL	CPL Only
Credits	â€”	â€”	â€”
CPL Credits	0	â€”	â€”
Scholarship Value	â€”	â€”	$0
Fees per Term	â€”	â€”	â€”
Number of Terms to Completion	â€”	â€”	â€”
Total Academic Costs	â€”	â€”	â€”

Your Biggest Takeaway

Enter your information to compare cost and time across the three options.

Visual Academic Cost and Time Comparison

This comparison uses only the academic information shown in the chart above: scholarship value, CPL credits and fees, term fees, and the number of terms to completion.

Scholarship Only

â€”

Scholarship + CPL

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CPL Only

â€”

Full Cost + Income Impact adds books, parking, housing, food, other expenses, and the income you may not receive until after completing the degree.

The Full Cost of Staying in School Longer

Tuition is only one part of the cost. More time in school can also mean more fees, books, parking, living expenses, and income you may not receive until after earning the degree.

All Costs Over Time	Scholarship Only	Scholarship + CPL	CPL Only
Tuition After Scholarship	â€”	â€”	â€”
CPL Fee	$0	â€”	â€”
Term Fees	â€”	â€”	â€”
Books and Materials	â€”	â€”	â€”
Parking	â€”	â€”	â€”
Housing	â€”	â€”	â€”
Food	â€”	â€”	â€”
Other Expenses	â€”	â€”	â€”
Lost Income Until Degree Completion (Income With Credential)	â€”	â€”	â€”
Total Cost of Earning the Degree	â€”	â€”	â€”

Visual Comparison of Academic + Living Costs

Each bar includes academic costs, books and materials, parking, housing, food, other expenses, and the income you could have earned with the completed credential while still working toward the degree.

Scholarship Only

â€”

Scholarship + CPL

â€”

CPL Only

â€”

Academic costsLiving and attendance costsLost income with degree

This calculator is an educational estimate. Actual institutional rules, award timing, credit acceptance, taxes, employment outcomes, and living costs may differ.