Financial Aid Offers

First you get the good news, that several colleges have accepted your child for the coming year and then the bad news.  How do you pay for it?  Typically, most families can get some help through financial aid but it is unheard of for two colleges to offer the same financial aid amount.  This is when the parent have to take the time to compare offers and help their child to pick the college that is right for them.

All financial aid officers will tell parents that there are many factors that are involved in calculating the amount of aid a family gets.  When each college has used their on complicated formulas, they arrive at an amount they feel the family can pay and then the develop of package to give aid for the rest.  This process is not standardized at all and each school will have a different outcome.  Take time to look at the numbers before you decide on that one that looks good at the beginning.

Don’t spend much time on the Summary Page as this breakdown of the costs is just the beginning. It is important that each family factor in the cost of inflation over those four years for those colleges that they are considering.