Ask ChatGPT or Claude whether you can afford a college

• Can I afford this school?

  For a school and field of study: what you’d owe when repayment starts, the payment that clears it in ten years, how much of your pay above basic expenses that takes, the money left each month, and the most you could owe and still rate Good.

  Try: “Is biology at UIC affordable if I borrow $4,000 a year?”

• Can my parents carry Parent PLUS?

  What’s owed when repayment starts, with the interest deferred during school, and the 10-year payment’s share of household income above basic expenses, on a stricter scale than the student’s. It applies the new caps of $20,000 a year and $65,000 per student, and shows what the standard plan would actually bill, and through what ages.

  Try: “My dad is 55, earns $120,000 and would borrow $7,000 a year for Duke. What would Parent PLUS mean for him?”

• How do we pay for four years as a family?

  At the parents’ income, how four years get paid for: family money, federal student loans, Parent PLUS, then private loans. Then whether everyone can carry the payments, including if the student pays everything.

  Try: “We make $83,000 and can contribute $2,000 a year. Can we afford UIC as a family?”

• What does my award letter really cost?

  It totals the letter into a net price, loans and work-study, and flags loans listed as aid, Parent PLUS in the package, and amounts above the federal limits.

  Try: “Here are the amounts on my award letter. What is a grant, and what would we have to repay?”

• How do these schools compare?

  Two to four schools side by side on the same borrowing.

  Try: “Compare UIC, Duke and Auburn for biology if I borrow $5,000 a year.”

• What are the loan rules now?

  The dated federal rules: RAP, the new standard plan, Parent PLUS caps, borrowing limits, and what changed for older loans. It explains them without recommending a plan.

  Try: “How does RAP work, and can new Parent PLUS loans use it?”

It can also find a school and return its costs, debt, earnings and fields of study.

• The school’s own figures. Its costs and debt, and graduates’ earnings by field of study, come from College Azimuth’s data, built on the federal College Scorecard.
• Current rules, dated. Rates, fees and the poverty guideline come from College Azimuth’s current data release, and every result names their year.
• One yardstick. Every loan is measured by the payment that clears it in ten years at the current federal rate. That’s a way to compare choices, not a repayment plan.
• No guessed rates. If current loan terms aren’t available, no estimates are made without them.
• The right follow-ups. The plugin adds Financial GPS guidance that helps the assistant ask the right follow-up questions.

• The assistant’s tools receive only each calculation’s inputs and don’t store them. OpenAI and Anthropic handle your conversations under their own policies. See our privacy policy.
• It covers undergraduate programs.
• Earnings are historical medians, not a prediction of your pay, and the basic-expense allowance is national, not a local budget.
• These are educational estimates, not financial, tax or legal advice.