What will college cost? Can you trust that financial-aid letter?

Higher education has become a "grand scam," writes Jeffrey M. McCall, a DePauw communications professor, in The Hill. In spite of concerns about grade inflation, students claiming dubious disability accommodations and indoctrination, college administrators keep jacking up tuition, he writes.

People are catching on. In an NBC poll, nearly two-thirds of voters say a four-year college degree is “not worth the cost.” 

Photo: Gera Cejas/Pexels

The Lumina Foundation, which is very pro-college, takes a different tack: Americans still think college is important, but fewer think they can afford it.

"Too often, the answer to a family's simplest question about what college will cost arrives late and varies by institution," writes Bruno Manno. Families can't compare financial aid offers because they're not standardized. Offers are "wrapped in language that blurs the difference between free money, borrowed money, campus jobs, parent loans and the amount the family must pay."

"Both the U.S. House and Senate are considering legislative proposals to require clearer college pricing," Manno writes. The U.S. Department of Education has proposed a Student Tuition and Transparency System, or STATS, to give families "better information about specific programs, not just college-wide averages." What does it cost to major in nursing at Paymore U?

Colleges are trying "rebuild trust by making college costs easier to understand," writes Kirk Carapezza for GBH.

Nearly 70 percent of college students have trouble calculating the true cost of attendance, according to a Strada Education Foundation survey. "Facing an enrollment cliff, growing public skepticism about the value of a degree, and intensifying competition for a shrinking pool of applicants," some colleges are simplifying financial aid offers, he writes. "Others are locking in tuition rates."

More than 700 colleges and universities have agreed to a single, simplified financial aid offer developed by the College Cost Transparency Initiative.

Brandeis is piloting a new cost calculator aimed at families shopping for a college, writes Rob Lieber in the New York Times. The tool, called Faye, "asks questions like a person would, digests high school transcripts and tax returns, then tells you 'what your Brandeis cost will be' if you get in, including both need-based and merit aid," he writes.

It's not quite a guarantee. "If your household income or assets change drastically during your time at the school, your net price might, too, if you receive need-based financial aid." But it's close -- and you don't have to wait till you get in to find out the bill.

Of course, whether college is a good financial investment depends on the student's academic preparation, motivation and interests. Is the student prepared to learn? Motivated to learn? Not planning to major in performing arts, fine arts or religious studies?