College Cost Skill

The two numbers that matter — the true all-in cost, and the monthly payment for the decade after — appear nowhere on the marketing or, tellingly, the financial-aid letter, which routinely blends grants (free) with loans (very much not) into one cheerful "award." This skill computes both numbers: net cost per year with aid honestly sorted, inflated forward (tuition outruns CPI), split into cash and borrowed, and the borrowed part converted into the graduate's first decade of monthly reality. Two offers become comparable the moment both are run through it.

What This Skill Produces

• The all-in number — net 4-year cost, cash vs. borrowed, from the script
• The offer decode — the award letter's lines sorted: grants/scholarships (free) vs. loans (repaid) vs. work-study (earned) — the blend untangled
• The monthly tail — the post-graduation payment, term, and total interest, stated next to a starting-salary reality check
• The comparison — two+ schools on identical assumptions, which the letters never are

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The sticker — full cost of attendance (tuition + room/board + fees, not tuition alone — the letter's fine print has it)
• The aid, sorted — the award letter's actual lines; anything ambiguous gets decoded ("award" ≠ grant until proven), and renewal conditions noted (GPA floors, year-one-only grants — the classic bait)
• The family math — what's payable in cash per year without borrowing; the gap is the loan share
• The candidate schools — for comparisons, each letter, same treatment