Financial Aid Award Letters 101

Financial Aid Award Letters 101

You have been accepted to school. Now, however area unit you about to buy it?

For college-bound students and families, this can be the instant of truth after they ascertain the number of cash being offered by a selected faculty. Every college can supply completely different award packages, which might embrace a mixture of grants, scholarships, examination or student loans. Students and families ought to rigorously scan all of the data contained within the award letters and clearly perceive the letters' terms and conditions. Equally necessary, strive to not panic if the number of cash awarded isn't enough to hide faculty expenses.

"The aid award package isn't the top of the road by any means that," says Martha Holler, proponent for Sallie Mae, the nation's No. one paying-for-college company. "Never merely accept a college supported price alone. With roughly $143 billion in aid awarded last year, monetary help is out there for college kids to attend their dream college."

In addition to completely reading every award letter received, students and families ought to raise themselves the following:

• What area unit the enrollment necessities for grants and scholarships?

• Area unit the awards for one year or all four years?

• is that the needed standard to keep up the awards realistic?

• If student employment is a component of the aid package, what sorts of jobs area unit accessible and what rate of pay is typical?

"Above all, it's necessary for college kids to match their award packages on Associate in nursing apples-to-apples basis," says Holler. "While one letter could total a better quantity, it should be additional heavily weighted with loans and not free cash, like grants and scholarships."

Holler adds that whereas most faculties seldom hash out or matches another school's award package, they must be alerted if a family's monetary circumstances have modified. In this case, families ought to contact the monetary workplace as quickly as attainable for a review.