How should I compare affordability between Arizona State University and the University of Miami for college?

The biggest practical tradeoff is predictable low cost versus potentially high sticker price with variable aid. Arizona State is usually much easier to make affordable, while the University of Miami often starts from a much higher total cost and depends more heavily on your specific scholarship and need-based aid package.

To compare them realistically, ignore the headline tuition first and line up each school’s actual net cost for one year. Use the financial aid offer from each school and calculate tuition, fees, housing, food, books, health insurance if required, travel, and personal expenses. Then subtract grants and scholarships, but do not subtract loans, work-study, or parent borrowing, since those are not discounts.

Then estimate four-year cost, not just first-year cost. A school that looks manageable for one year can become much harder if merit aid is fragile, rent rises, or travel costs add up. If you would need loans, compare the amount you would borrow over four years, not semester by semester.

In most cases, ASU comes out as the more affordable option by a meaningful margin. Miami can still be worth serious consideration if your net price is unexpectedly close after grants and scholarships, but that only happens when the aid package materially narrows the gap.