• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
      Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
    • CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
      CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
    • WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
      WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification
      Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification
    • It’s time to put traditional grading to the test
      It’s time to put traditional grading to the test
    • What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?
      What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • No image
      Pentimento’s Open Mic is Like an Old Patchwork Quilt–Worn, Yet Cozy
    • No image
      Kanye’s Antisemitism Steps on his Shoe Brand
    • Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)
      Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Sports and Wellness
    • Student-Athlete of October
      Student-Athlete of October
    • Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
      Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
    • The Case for Body Neutrality
      The Case for Body Neutrality
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Top 10 Girlbosses who aren’t alumnae, but I would totally believe you if you told me they were
      Top 10 Girlbosses who aren’t alumnae, but I would totally believe you if you told me they were
    • Wendy Wellesley’s Thanksgiving Menu
      Wendy Wellesley’s Thanksgiving Menu
    • The Snooze Awards for the Best Tanners of 2022
      The Snooze Awards for the Best Tanners of 2022
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Nasreen Al-Qadi News, News and FeaturesOctober 23, 2014

College releases updated My inTuition financial aid calculator

Soojin Jeong '17, Photography Editor

Online tool now calculates students’ estimated loan burden

Wellesley College has recently made improvements to its online My inTuition calculator. The updated financial aid calculator was released last Monday, Oct. 14 and builds upon the original by adding a new system that estimates the size of loans inside a student’s financial aid package. When the calculator was first released last year, it only calculated the amount students and their families would be expected to pay after financial aid.

Economics professor Phillip Levine created the statistical algorithm behind the system and hopes the improved calculator will alleviate some of the concerns incoming students have when it comes to college financing. Most prospective students are only aware of a college’s sticker price of over $60,000, which could cause these students to shy away from Wellesley. Wellesley is working toward reassuring incoming students that the price depends entirely on each student’s need by using tools such as My inTuition.

“Before a tool like this, it was extremely difficult to have a sense of how much less it would be,” Levine said. “If the only number that they know is $60,000, you just closed the door for a lot of people.”

Loan burden is a common topic of discussion as of late, as the average student debt in Massachusetts is over $28,000. Wellesley, however, has an average student debt of just over $14,000. This is particularly low compared to other colleges. For example, Mount Holyoke has an average student debt of close to $23,000.

Overall, American loan borrowers have accumulated almost $1.2 trillion in outstanding federal student debt. With the new loan estimator, Wellesley hopes to reassure students that money will not be a huge problem.

“I think that the great innovation of the revision is to indicate to people that there might be loan burden, but it’s not enormous. We want to dispel that myth for them,” Levine said.

However, students have mixed feelings about the updated tool. Many said that the loan estimates were not accurate enough.

“I did not find it very useful. They didn’t ask for enough specific information, so you were given a range between $2,000 and $11,000 . It was just a huge difference between the numbers,” Carolyn Rogan ’18 said.

On the other hand, some prospective students who have also noticed the new loan estimator found the tool useful.

“I found it very helpful in gaining an idea of how much my family would need to spend. Wellesley wasn’t the cheapest, but it wasn’t the most expensive either,” prospective student Christine Forbes said.

The idea first began five years ago when Levine performed a funded study on the College’s financial aid system at the time. Based on his research, he realized the need for an easier method for financial aid estimation. However, the project was put on hold after the financial crisis struck and the College was facing more pressing issues. When the project picked up again, it only took a couple of months for Levine to complete the mathematical and technical work.

Despite the update, the calculator still has limitations. My inTuition is geared toward students who have simple financial situations, but does not calculate more complex situations very well. For more unique situations, students are redirected to the College Board’s Net Price Calculator to provide more detailed information.

“[For] the majority of people who have straightforward finances, our calculator is going to work really well. It’s when you start to deviate from that a little bit that it starts to skew the results a little,” Levine said.

The calculator has received a positive response from students, according to the statistics Levine has collected. It takes an average of three minutes to answer the six questions in the calculator and has a completion rate of 80 percent. In comparison, the College Board’s Net Price Calculator has a completion rate of 30 percent. Since the college application season is cyclical, the popularity of the tool also fluctuates. This month, which is peak season,  the tool has gotten close to one thousand hits. It receives around half those hits most other seasons. Overall, over 10,000 people have used the tool for estimates.

Levine is currently conducting research to look at the effect the calculator has on attracting students. Results are expected to be public within the next couple of months.

The updated tool took a year to develop because all the members of the team who worked on this project over the past years volunteered their time and were not paid.

In terms of expanding the calculator to other platforms such as the iPhone, Levine is uncertain. However, he is happy with what the tool has accomplished so far.

“It’s been a big deal and the college has dedicated a tremendous amount of resources and time to this project,” Levine said.

Levine hopes that the tool will eventually be expanded to colleges other than Wellesley, so more people can benefit from the online calculator.

Photo by Soojin Jeong ’17, Photography Editor

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous article10/22
Next article10/22

You may also like

Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”

CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure

WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2023 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top