ABOUT WELLS LOVE

Methodology

This page explains how our calculators produce their numbers, how the ATS analyzer scores a resume, where our facts come from and what we do when they change. Last updated October 23, 2026.

College Cost & ROI Calculator

  • Gross yearly cost is the sum of ten recurring categories: tuition and fees, housing, food, books and supplies, transportation, personal expenses, health insurance, technology, student fees and other expenses. Application and enrollment fees are a one-time amount and are not multiplied by years.
  • Net yearly cost is gross yearly cost minus the grants and scholarships you enter.
  • Total program cost is net yearly cost multiplied by years of study, plus the one-time fees.
  • Net income is a flat 75% of the starting salary you enter. This is a simplified tax assumption, not your actual tax.
  • Payback period is total program cost divided by net income. We label 4 years or less High ROI, 4 to 8 years Moderate and above 8 years Low.
  • Starting-point budgets and field salaries are illustrative and based on published averages such as College Board figures and US entry-level pay ranges. Replace them with your school's published cost of attendance and your own salary expectation. Results ignore loan interest, inflation and raises.

Loan Calculator

The calculator uses the standard amortization formula for a fixed-rate loan with equal monthly payments: payment = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n), where P is the amount borrowed, r the monthly rate and n the number of payments. It does not model variable rates, fees, income-driven plans, deferment or forgiveness. It is not a loan offer.

ATS Resume Analyzer

The analyzer is a transparent heuristic. It extracts sections, job titles, dates, employers, education and skills from your text and scores six areas. With a job description pasted, the weights are experience 25%, keyword match 25%, impact 20%, education and certifications 15%, structure 10% and format 5%. Without one, keyword weight drops to 15% and the difference is redistributed to experience and impact. A total of 85 or more is labeled Excellent, 70 to 84 Good, 50 to 69 Fair and below 50 Needs work.

Real applicant tracking systems differ from each other and from this tool. Treat the score as a checklist for fixing visible problems, not a prediction of any employer's decision. Role pages use a keyword profile for that role that we write ourselves from commonly listed skills; they are editorial summaries, not scraped or statistical data.

Where our facts come from

  • US costs and outcomes: the Department of Education's College Scorecard, NCES College Navigator and IPEDS, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the College Board.
  • Federal student aid rules: studentaid.gov.
  • UK admissions and costs: UCAS, university websites and official government pages.
  • Rankings: we name the publisher (for example QS or Times Higher Education) and say when a list is our own editorial judgment.

Every guide ends with a sources list. We do not publish invented statistics. If we cannot source a number, we describe the idea without it.

Data-driven pages

If we publish pages for specific schools, majors or roles, they will appear only where the underlying data exists and is current. Pages without usable data are not created. Each such page will show its data year and source.

Updates and corrections

Guides show their published and last-reviewed dates, and we revisit them at least once a year because tuition, rankings, salaries and rules change. Errors are logged on the corrections page. See also the editorial policy.

Educational information only; not financial, legal or hiring advice.