How should I compare Columbia University and Duke University net prices after financial aid?

Compare Columbia and Duke by building a four-year, out-of-pocket budget from each actual aid offer, rather than treating the schools’ net-price estimates as directly interchangeable. Include billed charges, required non-billed costs, and the terms of every grant, loan, and work-study component. Columbia’s New York City setting can make transportation and everyday spending look different from Duke’s Durham setting, while Duke may create more pressure to budget for a car or occasional rides depending on your routine.

Start with the amount your family must pay to the university: tuition, mandatory fees, housing, food plan, and any health-insurance charge that cannot be waived. Then separate gift aid, which lowers the bill, from federal loans and work-study, which are not discounts. A work-study award is money you can earn through a job; do not subtract it from your upfront family cost unless you have a realistic plan for the hours.

For Columbia, add subway or regional transit, winter clothing if relevant, meals and supplies beyond the dining plan, and travel home from New York. For Duke, include local transportation, possible parking, car insurance or rideshares, off-campus food, and travel through Raleigh-Durham or another airport. Use your own expected travel frequency, not the school’s generic allowance.

Check renewal conditions: whether each institutional grant is guaranteed or subject to annual need recalculation, whether a parent income or sibling-in-college change could alter aid, and whether scholarship amounts require a particular enrollment status or academic standard. Put each year’s projected family cash payment, expected student borrowing, and realistic earned income in separate columns. The lower number is not necessarily the better financial offer if it depends on substantially more loans, unstable aid, or costs your family would need to finance.