It’s financial aid award season. Students and parents are anxiously awaiting the news from colleges that offered admission. How much financial aid will they offer? What type of aid will you receive? How will this aid factor in to your student’s final decision.
College acceptances for regular admission will be posted and arriving soon. Just a little later, will come the financial aid award packages. Before you and your student have to make the final college choice and before the financial aid awards arrive, consider these four activities in preparation, add these four tasks to your schedule.
Before the Offers of Admission and Financial Aid Awards Arrive
It’s a joyful day for your high school senior when an offer of college admission arrives, and the joy is magnified by a financial aid award. Award letters arrive along with (or soon after) acceptance letters. I remember the first time I saw one, my daughter’s senior year. Quite honestly, it was Greek to me. How were we supposed to compare the offers? Every college was different and every award letter was different.
Breaking Down the Financial Aid Award Letter
Is your child’s financial aid offer enough to meet their financial needs? If not, they may be a victim of “gapping” or “admit/deny”, when a school accepts a student, but does not give a student enough aid to realistically attend.
Prepare yourself beforehand. The decision on which college to attend will be a lot easier, especially when you add the financial component to the mix.
Read Wendy’s article: 5 Questions to ask about financial aid front loading
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