Pick institutions, add your numbers, see the gap — three short screens, plain arithmetic throughout.
Tuition figures are IPEDS stated annual rates (in-state / out-of-state). Living costs, aid and scholarships are not included — add your own estimates.
1 · Pick institutions (up to 4)
2 · Set your plan inputs
Stated IPEDS tuition × years, compared against your stated contribution. No living costs, aid or scholarships are assumed — add those yourself.
Pick an institution on the left to see the tuition total and any gap against your yearly contribution.
Every figure above is a stated IPEDS rate applied with plain arithmetic — nothing is modelled or predicted.
Understand the full cost of study using stated tuition and transparent assumptions.
A programme's tuition fee is only one part of the cost of study. You may also need to budget for accommodation, food, transport, equipment, insurance, examination fees, deposits, travel and lost income. The Affordability Planner assembles a transparent estimate from stated costs and clearly labelled assumptions.
Start with verified programme costs
Capture institution, programme, study mode, duration and fee category. Published tuition and mandatory charges come from the institutions' own stated (IPEDS) records — displayed separately from your estimates, with currency and source date. Where fees vary by residency, course load or year, the applicable conditions are shown rather than one universal figure. Official fee information, user-entered values and unknown costs are never blended.
Calculate the full cost of attendance
The planner works through tuition and fees plus your own entered numbers: books and supplies, devices, accommodation, utilities, food, local transport, travel, visa or insurance costs where applicable, and a contingency you control. One-time, per-term and annual expenses are kept distinct, and deposits are never double-counted.
Model the timeline of payments
When costs arise can matter as much as the total: application, admission deposit, enrolment, each term, travel and housing setup. Compare the full-programme total with the cash required before each milestone — and for cross-border study, currency and exchange-rate assumptions stay explicit. A live payment calendar isn't built yet; the honest arithmetic is here, the timing ledger comes later.
Identify funding and support
Record scholarships, grants, fee waivers, sponsorships, family contributions, savings, employer support and loans as separate funding sources — distinguishing confirmed funding from applications pending or amounts you hope to receive. Terms that affect net cost (renewal conditions, service obligations, repayment, interest, disbursement timing) get verified directly with the provider; the curated funding register lives in Course Discovery.
Show the funding gap
Estimated total cost, confirmed funding and the remaining gap across your timeline — with the arithmetic laid out so you can inspect every input and correct errors. The planner never labels a programme affordable or unaffordable on its own: that judgement needs your resources, priorities and risk tolerance.
Compare alternatives fairly
Compare programmes using consistent time periods and cost categories — duration, likely additional expenses, funding certainty and the timing of payments, not just headline tuition. Test choices such as living at home, shared accommodation, part-time work where permitted or a different study mode; these choices can affect workload, visa compliance and academic progress.
Plan for uncertainty and safeguards
Run sensitivity checks — fee increases, exchange-rate movement, unexpected travel, delayed funding, changes in living costs — and see which variables move the total most. Every output is an estimate, not financial, tax, immigration or lending advice: verify official fees and seek qualified advice before major commitments.
The page experience
Cost summary, itemised budget and gap analysis with every figure labelled as official, estimated or user-entered — source links and last-checked dates included, and a visible list of unknown or unverified expenses. Save your assumptions, revise them, and let the totals follow.
How this works.
Pick the institutions and programmes you're weighing — tuition figures come from the institutions' own published (IPEDS) records.
Add your numbers — years, living costs, support you expect — and the planner does the honest arithmetic on stated figures.
Compare programmes on total stated cost, not sticker price alone, and carry the caveats with you.
Stated plainly — what this doesn't do
- — Tuition is as published — it is not your net price. Scholarships, aid and fee waivers change what you actually pay.
- — No invented cost-of-living indices — living costs are your own estimates, labelled as yours.
- — Where a figure is missing in the source data, the planner shows the gap instead of guessing.
Questions people ask.
Why does the planner use US tuition data?
The IPEDS dataset is the broad, stated, source-backed tuition record Lifelong Careers owns today — used as an anchor. Where your country's data isn't built yet, the page says so rather than inventing numbers.
Does this include scholarships?
The curated funding register lives in Course Discovery. Your expected aid is a number you enter here — clearly yours.
Can I compare living in two cities?
Enter your own living-cost estimates for each — the planner keeps them labelled as your estimates, never presented as market data.
Do the math before the deadline does.
Stated tuition in, your numbers alongside, totals you can defend. Then decide with your eyes open.