CampusPin Glossary
Sticker price
The published total cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room, and board) before any financial aid is applied.
Sticker price is the headline annual cost a college lists on its website and in directories like CampusPin. It typically includes tuition, mandatory fees, on-campus room and board (or an estimate for off-campus students), and standard supply and travel allowances. It does NOT include any aid, scholarships, or grants — so the sticker price is rarely what families actually pay. For most students, the meaningful number is net price.
CampusPin shows sticker price under "Annual Tuition" and "Cost of Attendance" on each school profile, sourced from IPEDS / NCES College Navigator and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Always compare sticker price across schools that report on the same basis (in-state vs out-of-state, on-campus vs off-campus living).
See also
Net price
What a family actually pays out-of-pocket after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the sticker price.
Cost of attendance (COA)
The federal government's standardized estimate of one academic year's total cost at a college, including direct and indirect expenses.
Tuition
The annual fee a college charges for instruction itself — separate from room, board, fees, and other costs of attendance.
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