How should I compare the total cost of attending Tufts versus Brandeis?

Compare Tufts and Brandeis using each school’s personalized financial-aid offer, not its published cost of attendance. Build a one-year side-by-side budget that separates billed charges from expenses you control, then project that budget across four years. The meaningful difference is the amount your family would actually pay after renewable grants and scholarships, plus any loans you would need to take.

For each college, start with tuition, mandatory fees, on-campus housing, and the specific meal plan you would realistically choose. Then add health insurance only if you cannot waive the school plan, books and course materials, personal spending, and transportation home during breaks. Since Tufts in Medford and Brandeis in Waltham are both in the greater Boston area, travel may be broadly similar, but calculate it from your own home, expected number of trips, and local transit or car costs rather than treating it as zero.

Put grants and scholarships in one column, student loans in another, and work-study in a third. A grant directly lowers the price; a loan shifts part of the cost to you later; work-study is an opportunity to earn wages but is not money automatically credited to your bill.

Ask each financial-aid office whether institutional aid is renewable for four years, what academic or enrollment conditions apply, whether the award is expected to change if family finances stay similar, and how outside scholarships affect the package. Also ask about likely housing and meal-plan costs after the first year, since those can change more than tuition from year to year.

Compare a conservative four-year estimate: your first-year net cost and the total borrowing your family would accept. Use the same assumptions for both schools. The lower advertised price matters less than the offer that leaves you with the lower predictable four-year family cost and less debt.