How should I compare the total cost of Virginia Tech and the University of New Hampshire?

Neither Virginia Tech nor the University of New Hampshire is automatically the lower-cost option; choose the one with the lower guaranteed four-year net cost after renewable grants and realistic living and travel expenses. Out-of-state tuition can change the result substantially at either public university.

Build a side-by-side annual worksheet with tuition and mandatory fees, campus housing, meal plan, books and course supplies, personal expenses, health-insurance charges if applicable, and transportation. For travel, estimate the number of round trips you will actually make from home to Blacksburg versus Durham, including airport, train, gas, parking, or rideshare costs. Also check whether either school requires first-year students to live on campus and whether the meal-plan requirement changes after the first year, since sophomore-through-senior housing can affect the total sharply.

Subtract only aid you do not have to repay: grants, scholarships, tuition benefits, and any state or institutional awards. Treat loans and work-study as ways to pay, not reductions in cost. Read each award letter for whether merit aid is renewable, the GPA or enrollment conditions, whether the amount is fixed for four years, and whether it can be reduced if other scholarships are added.

Finally, project all four years, not just freshman year. Apply expected tuition, housing, and meal-plan increases, and distinguish a scholarship that renews automatically from one that is reviewed annually. The most useful bottom-line figure is: four-year direct billed costs plus realistic travel and personal costs, minus confirmed renewable gift aid.