After weeks of waiting, I’ve finally received my financial aid awards from the colleges I’ve applied to.
The award letter you receive will probably have different types of aid. Some of this has to be paid back, while some of it does not. Also, your award letter won’t include scholarships that you applied for by yourself, independent of the university.
But all this information can be confusing. The award letter won’t tell you specifically how much you’re going to owe versus how much you’ve been given. To figure this out, follow the steps below:
1. Get out a sheet out notebook paper, open up Excel, or use this handy worksheet from American Student Assistance. In columns, write down the total cost of attendance for each school you’ve been accepted to. This number can be found by going to the university’s website. Remember not to include costs like books or travel expenses, since these costs will vary by school. We want as close to an apples to apples comparision as possible.
2. Below that number, write down any financial aid you’ve received that you don’t have to pay back. Things like Pell grants, state grants, college scholarships, work-study, and any independent scholarships that aren’t limited to just one university. Total up all of this aid and record it on your piece of paper (or spreadsheet).
3. Now we’ll look at aid that does have to be paid back. These includes Stafford loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized), Perkins loans, other loans. Total up all of this “aid”.
4. Currently, you’ve figured out how much financial aid you have to pay back and how much you don’t. Add these two numbers together. This is your total award amount. Your award letter probably already did this for you, but we aren’t done yet.
5. Subtract the total amount of financial aid (found in step 4) from total cost of attendance (found during Step 1). The resulting number is how much you and/or your family (see: parents) are responsible for. This amount must be earned or borrowed in some way.
6. Final step! Add your family’s responsibility to the total amount of aid you have to repay (found during step 3). This number represents the total amount of money that the university will cost.
Once you’ve completed this exercise, you should have a much better understanding of your financial aid. Also, you’ll realize just how much money you’ll need to borrow or earn in order to pay for college. Keep in mind that the absolute total amount is going to change (see: increase) once interest is calculated on any loans you take out.
If you’re interested, you can click here to see my worksheet. I’ve only filled out one school so far though.
