Start with what it costs, then add everything you have lined up: savings, family money, scholarships, loans. The page shows how much you are short, what happens to the gap if a scholarship or a loan falls through, and how many hours of work it would take to close it.
Enter your cost and your funding
Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Your funding gap
Your gap shows up here once you add the total cost you want to cover.
What to enter
- Total cost
- The full cost for the period you are planning, including tuition and living costs. Use the university cost calculator if you want help adding it up.
- A second option
- Optional. Add a different school or plan and the page compares the two against the same funding.
- Money you have lined up
- Add each source on its own line. For a one-off amount, choose "in total". For something that comes every month, like part-time pay, choose "per month".
- Type of money
- Mark each line as your own money, a scholarship or grant, or a loan. This is what lets the page show your gap before loans and with no scholarship.
- Hourly pay and tax
- Optional. If you would close the gap by working, enter your hourly pay and the share lost to tax, and the page shows the hours.
A worked example
Here is a made-up student choosing between two schools. The numbers are invented for the example.
The state university costs $31,000 for the year and the private college $52,000. The student has $10,000 of their own and family money (savings $4,000 and family contribution $6,000), a $5,000 scholarship and a $7,500 loan. That is $22,500 of funding.
| State university | Private college | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $31,000 | $52,000 |
| Funding | $22,500 | $22,500 |
| Gap | $8,500 | $29,500 |
| Gap without the loan | $16,000 | $37,000 |
| Gap with no scholarship | $13,500 | $34,500 |
The state university leaves a gap of $8,500, which is $708 a month, and the funding covers 73% of it. The private college is $29,500 short. If the scholarship fell through, the state university gap would grow to $13,500. At $15 an hour with 15% lost to tax, closing the $8,500 gap would take about 667 hours of work.
How the gap is calculated
- Add up every funding source. A monthly source is multiplied by the number of months you set, and a one-off amount is counted once.
- The gap is the total cost minus your total funding. If it is below zero, the extra is shown as spare money.
- Coverage is your funding divided by the cost. The monthly figure is the gap divided by the months you set.
- The page then recalculates the gap without loans, and without scholarships and grants, to show how much of your plan depends on each.
- If you add pay, the hours to close the gap are the gap divided by your pay after tax.
Gap = total cost – (savings + family money + aid + loans)
Assumptions to keep in mind
- A loan is counted as funding, but it is money you repay. A small gap that depends on a large loan is not the same as a small gap.
- The page takes your numbers as they are. It does not know which scholarships have conditions, or whether your aid renews each year.
- It works in one currency. Use one symbol for everything.
- The hours figure treats the money as earned evenly. In practice you may not be able to work that many hours alongside your studies.
- It covers one period, usually a year. For a multi-year degree, run it for a year and check that your funding repeats.
Mistakes that hide a gap
Counting a scholarship that is not confirmed
Only include aid you have been told you will get. If you are waiting to hear, add it later, and use the "no scholarship" figure on the page to see the worst case.
Counting a loan as free money
A loan closes the gap today and costs you later. Look at how much of your funding is borrowed, not only at the final gap.
Using the tuition number as the total
The gap is only honest if the cost is. Include rent, food, books and travel, not just tuition.
Forgetting that funding may not repeat
A one-year scholarship, or savings you drain in year 1, will not be there in year 2. Check each source for the whole degree.
Assuming you can work enough hours
The hours figure can look easy to hit on paper. Check what your visa or timetable lets you work before you rely on it.
Questions students ask
What is a funding gap?
On this page it is the cost you need to cover minus the money you have lined up. If it is positive, you are short. If it is zero or below, you are covered.
Should loans count as funding?
They pay the bill, so the page counts them. The page also shows the gap before loans, so you can see how much of your plan depends on borrowing. You repay a loan later, which this page does not model.
What if my scholarship falls through?
That is what the "no scholarship" line shows. It recalculates the gap with aid taken out and your other money unchanged. If that number is scary, it is worth asking the scholarship provider what the conditions are.
How do I close a funding gap?
You can lower the cost, raise your funding, or both. Try comparing a cheaper option on the same page. If you want to see how many hours of work it would take, add your hourly pay. Your school’s financial aid office is also a sensible place to ask what else is available.
Where do I find the total cost?
The university cost calculator adds tuition, rent, food, books and travel for a year. If you need to know what your income and bills leave each month, the student budget calculator does that.
