Colleges sometimes inadvertently make their financial aid letter ambiguous and this can result in mistakes made by students and their parents.

Other times, students and their parents only focus on the net price of attending a college and overlook important details outlined in the financial aid letter.

According to Student Loan Hero, “Net cost of attendance (the total cost minus the aid you’ll receive) is just one piece of the puzzle, however, and could possibly mislead you.”

Keep in mind that even if two students have the same out-of-pocket costs (net price) it does not mean they are the same.

Let’s use an example:

Here, a student was accepted into two schools. And while they both yield the same out-of-pocket costs ($5,000), they are NOT the same.

This is because student loans are often included in the “net price” or “out-of-pocket costs,” which conditionally lower your cost of attendance for a given academic year.

Note: Loans lower your cost of attendance on the “condition” that you repay that money (plus interest) so avoid them if possible or keep track of how much you’re borrowing (know how much you and your family can reasonably repay)

Therefore, College A would be the financially sound choice given that College B is mostly propped up by student loans.

So while it is important to know what the net price of attending a particular college is it is just as important to understand its components.

Related: Check out this article to learn how to calculate your out-of-pocket costs to attend college.