Plan the degree credit and cost still ahead
Compare up to three school plans using accepted applicable credit and the school’s confirmed remaining requirements. Choose the actual credit and billing units, then test per-unit or term tuition with your own costs and confirmed aid.
Draft kept in this browser tab. Figures are not sent to FreeCheapEdu or placed in a URL.
Compare the remaining plans
| Plan item | Option 1 |
|---|---|
| Units used by this school | unit not chosen |
| Arithmetic degree gap | Unknown |
| School-confirmed remaining units | Unknown |
| Terms from your pace assumption | Unknown |
| Billable terms used for costs | Unknown |
| Basis for billable terms | Unknown |
| Years at the entered billing frequency | Unknown |
| Tuition for remaining study | Unknown |
| School fees for the plan | Unknown |
| Total cost before aid | Unknown |
| Confirmed aid applied | Unknown |
| Cost left after aid | Unknown |
| Entered aid not applied to these costs | Unknown |
Confirm with each school
- Which transcript/exam/prior-learning credits apply to this degree, and which requirements remain?
- Do residency, major, upper-level work, prerequisites, course availability or repeated courses change the plan?
- What billing period and tuition/fee rate apply, and what happens if another term is needed?
- Which aid is actually confirmed for each period, and what are the enrollment, progress and renewal conditions?
Where to start
Get the actual school evaluation
Use completed credit accepted toward the specific degree, then the school-confirmed remaining requirements. Resolve residency, major, upper-level, prerequisite and duplicate-credit questions before estimating.
Match the billing period to the workload
Choose the school’s unit system and actual tuition basis. Keep per-term fees, planned units and annual billing frequency aligned; a school term quote can replace the simple pace scenario.
Use confirmed aid for the full modeled period
Add only confirmed support for the costs and periods in this comparison. Keep annual award maxima, unapproved transfer credits and future renewals outside the entered confirmed total.
How the credit and cost comparison works
The arithmetic gap is the degree’s required total minus completed units that the school has accepted as applicable to this degree. It excludes duplicate, excess, pending and in-progress credit. That subtraction does not settle major, upper-level, residency, prerequisite or sequencing requirements. Enter the school-confirmed remainder and confirm its evaluation before using time or cost estimates. If the remainder is below the arithmetic gap, reconcile the figures with the school.
Use one unit system within each option. The tool does not convert semester, quarter or competency units. At the entered pace, the scenario uses remaining units ÷ planned units per billing term, rounded up to a whole term. A quoted school billing-term count overrides that scenario. Years are billable terms ÷ the entered billing terms per year; this is an approximate planning interval, without a predicted graduation date or a promise of course availability.
Tuition is the confirmed remaining units × the entered per-unit rate, or billable terms × the per-term rate. School fees and extra living/travel/childcare costs use that same billing period. Add the one-time costs for the entire plan. A school’s tuition quote may change in later periods; enter and review the basis of this scenario with the school.
Aid entries cover the whole modeled plan and its costs. Tuition-only aid is capped at tuition. Employer tuition/fee support applies to remaining tuition and school fees. Other confirmed grants apply to the remaining modeled cost. Aid is not repeated by year or term; loans are not discounts, and unused aid is not a refund. Renewals, enrollment intensity, academic progress, transfer admission and school-specific aid rules still need confirmation.
Blank means unknown, not zero. A historical institutional average net price describes a group, not your degree-completion bill or award. Use the school’s itemized quote, appropriate personal net-price estimate and actual aid offer for your situation. This tool does not evaluate transcripts, determine credit acceptance, establish accreditation/licensure suitability, or model financing interest, lost income, future inflation or changes in aid.
Your figures are stored only in this browser tab and are not sent to FreeCheapEdu or added to a URL. Storage can be blocked or cleared. Print a copy for the school conversation and clear the draft on a shared computer.
Compare funding and credit routes
Questions about this degree plan
Can I subtract every credit on my transcript from the degree total?
Use only completed units that the receiving school says apply to this degree. Excess, repeated, pending or non-applicable credit does not settle its major, residency, upper-level or other requirements. The school’s degree audit determines what remains.
Does a flat tuition rate tell me the total cost of the degree?
The number of billable terms still matters, alongside fees, one-time costs and the approved remaining workload. The tool labels a pace-based scenario separately from a quoted school term count and does not promise course availability or completion speed.
Can an institutional average net price replace my personal quote?
An institutional average describes a student cohort and period. Use the appropriate school estimate and actual aid offer for your circumstances, with the itemized remaining study costs; do not use an average as a guaranteed bill or award.
Are my figures sent anywhere or saved in a link?
The plan stays in this browser tab and its session storage. It is not sent to FreeCheapEdu or added to a URL. Print a copy for your school conversation and clear the draft on a shared device.