Frequently Asked Questions
12 questions answered
What is Tuition.fyi?
Tuition.fyi is a crowdsourced database where students share what they actually pay for college. We use AI to extract costs from real billing documents and make the data available anonymously, so students can compare tuition, scholarships, and net costs across schools.
Is my document stored?
No. Your document is processed in memory by our AI, the financial data is extracted, and the original file is immediately discarded. We never write your document to disk or any database. Only the extracted numbers (tuition, fees, scholarships) are saved.
Is my identity visible?
No. All submissions are anonymous. Your name, student ID, and email are never displayed. Other users only see the school name, program, costs, and country/ZIP code.
What documents can I upload?
We accept three types: (1) Consolidated Bills from your university portal (most detailed, shows every charge and scholarship), (2) 1098-T tax forms (annual tuition and scholarship totals), and (3) Financial Aid award letters (scholarship names and amounts).
What do I get for submitting?
Three things: (1) A personalized ROI report showing how your costs compare to other students, what scholarships you might be missing, and your post-graduation earning potential. (2) Full access to the database of what every other student pays. (3) Access tokens to share with family or friends.
What are access tokens?
For each document you upload, you get one token. Each token is a unique link you can send to one person (a parent, sibling, or friend). When they use it, they get full access to the database without needing to upload their own document. Tokens are single-use.
Who are tokens for?
Tokens are designed for people who need the data but don't have a bill to upload yet. A parent comparing schools for a younger child. A high school student deciding where to apply. A friend back home who's thinking about studying in the US.
Can I upload multiple documents?
Yes. Upload your consolidated bill AND your 1098-T for cross-verification. You get one token per document, and your submission gets a 'Double Verified' badge. The more documents you upload, the more tokens you earn and the more trustworthy your data.
How does the ROI report work?
We compare your net cost to other students at your school, in your major, and from your country or ZIP code. We also pull post-graduation earnings data from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard to calculate how long it takes for your degree to pay for itself.
Is this free?
For students who contribute their data, yes. If you have a billing document to upload, everything is free. In the future, prospective students or parents who don't have data to contribute may pay a small fee for access.
Why should I trust this data?
Every submission is extracted from a real document by AI. We use SHA-256 hashing to prevent duplicate submissions. Submissions from multiple documents get a 'Double Verified' badge. And because the data is open, anyone can spot and report anomalies.
Does this work for international students?
Yes. Tuition.fyi was built specifically with international students in mind. You can filter by country of origin to see what students from your country actually pay at US schools.