Evaluating Your Financial Aid Offer
When you receive your financial aid award, it's important to review it carefully to understand what types of aid you've been offered and the terms of each award. Here are some things to consider when evaluating your financial aid award:
Cost of Attendance: Compare your financial aid award to the total cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room and board, books, etc.) at the school you will be attending. Your aid package should help to cover most of these expenses. You should also keep in mind some of the other costs of college, like transportation to/from school, clothes if you are moving to a different climate, technology, and other personal expenses.
Types of aid: What kind of aid have you been offered? Scholarships and grants are considered "free money" and do not have to be repaid, while work-study and loans will have to be repaid with interest. Understanding the full scope of your aid will help you plan appropriately.
Eligibility requirements: Some aid may be based on maintaining a certain GPA, living on campus, or participating in a specific program. Be sure you understand the requirements and make sure you can meet them before accepting the aid.
Renewability: Some scholarships and grants are only for one year, while others may be renewable for multiple years. Be sure to find out if the aid you've been offered is renewable and what the renewal criteria are.
Compare with other offers: If you have been accepted to multiple colleges, compare the financial aid awards from each school to each other. If one school provided less aid, you can share your other offers with their financial aid office to negotiate a better offer. You should ALWAYS try to do this - it never hurts to ask!
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