Overview
Developed a custom PHP and MySQL Tuition & Fee Calculator for Valdosta State University, allowing students to estimate their educational expenses based on their individual circumstances.
The application included an administrative portal for managing tuition and fee information, a database-driven calculation system, and a student-facing interface for generating personalized cost estimates.
The Challenge
Students needed an accessible way to estimate the cost of attending Valdosta State University based on their individual information and the tuition and fees associated with a particular academic semester.
The university also needed an efficient way to maintain changing tuition and fee charges without requiring manual updates throughout the website.
Because tuition and fee requirements could change annually, the calculation logic needed ongoing adjustments to ensure estimates reflected the university’s current pricing structure.
The Solution
Developed a PHP and MySQL application that allows authorized administrators to create, read, update, and delete tuition and fee charges through a dedicated backend portal.
Built a student-facing calculator that retrieves semester-specific tuition and fee information from the database and applies calculation logic based on the information entered by each student.
Worked closely with Financial Services to update the calculation algorithm annually and continued expanding the application with additional features as requirements evolved.
Technical Implementation
The application included five primary components:
- Database architecture: Developed a MySQL-backed system for storing tuition and fee information associated with academic semesters.
- Administrative portal: Built a PHP interface supporting create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) operations for tuition and fee charges.
- Calculation engine: Implemented PHP logic to calculate estimated educational expenses using student-provided information and stored tuition and fee data.
- Annual algorithm updates: Collaborated with Financial Services to adjust calculation logic as tuition and fee requirements changed.
- Ongoing development: Maintained and enhanced the application’s PHP code, database, and custom features throughout my tenure at the university.
Outcome
Delivered a database-driven tuition and fee calculator that enabled students to generate personalized estimates of their educational expenses.
The administrative portal allowed authorized staff to maintain tuition and fee information, while the calculation engine provided estimates based on each student’s inputs.
The application continued to evolve through annual algorithm adjustments and additional enhancements developed in collaboration with Financial Services during my tenure at Valdosta State University.
Although the website has since been redesigned, portions of my original implementation appear to remain in use. I am no longer responsible for its maintenance.