Comparing Financial Aid Award Letters

Hopefully, come about April of the high school senior year, the student has been accepted to three or four colleges and has received financial aid award letters from each stipulating what assistance is being offered. They are all couched in different terms. Costs and aid are listed differently and you’re really not sure what you’ve been awarded or which school is actually the best deal.

It is important to compare these offers, as each will surely be different and those that provide the most dollar assistance may, in fact, cost the family more in the long run. Here is a list of tips to use in comparing packages:

Compare the debt first by adding up all the loans being offered.

Compare unmet need and the family contribution--the more need met may mean more family debt, the more gift aid may mean a larger family contribution.

Make sure books and miscellaneous expenses are included in the cost the college used to figure the family's need.

Consider travel costs if institutions are some distance away.

Determine if any outside scholarships are renewable and if the college will allow self-help portions of the package to be reduced by them.

Compare the terms of any loans included--what the payments will be and the real cost to the family once they're paid off.

Check what aid is provided to upperclassmen--Freshman award packages are often better.

Write it all down and look at the numbers--don't just guess which package will be less expensive.

Last, compare the economic benefit of your future career with the need to incur substantial debt. It may well be worth it.

Let Campus Financial sort if out for you with our exclusive Funding Analysis. You will receive for each college or university a data sheet detailing costs, Estimated Family Contribution and financial aid awards. It calculates for you exactly what you are receiving and how it effects the bottom line what does it mean financially for the family on a monthly basis. From a budget standpoint, it gives it to you in black and white. In addition it shows you how your award stacks up against the schools' historical distribution of aid. Did you receive as much grant money as the average student attending that college? It could be a reason to call and negotiate for additional assistance.