How should I compare Brown and Brandeis to determine which is more affordable?

The biggest practical tradeoff is that Brown may offer a more generous need-based package for an admitted student with demonstrated financial need, while Brandeis may be less expensive only if its merit scholarship or aid offer leaves you with a lower four-year bill. Do not compare sticker prices alone: calculate each school’s net cost after grants and scholarships, then separate loans and work-study from money the college is actually giving you.

Start with each college’s official net price calculator, using the same parent income, assets, household size, number of children in college, and student earnings information. Treat the results as estimates, not guarantees, especially if your family owns a business, has unusual income, is divorced or separated, or has recently had a major financial change.

Once you have actual offers, make a side-by-side four-year comparison. For each school, add tuition, housing, food, required fees, health insurance if you need it, books, travel from home, and personal expenses. Subtract only grants and scholarships that do not have to be repaid. List federal loans, institutional loans, parent borrowing, and work-study separately: work-study is an opportunity to earn wages through a job, not a discount applied automatically to your bill.

If Brown’s need-based grant reduces borrowing and parent contribution more than Brandeis’s scholarship does, Brown can be the less expensive choice; if Brandeis’s total grant and merit aid produces a meaningfully lower net bill, Brandeis is the financially sounder option.