Which College has the Best Offer for You?
Seniors, when looking at your financial aid offers from the schools you’ve been admitted to, one package may look better than others. But is it really? How do you know?
Once you’ve entered your financial aid offers into a file on your computer, you can compare awards. Which of your college offers adds up to a 5 star award rating? Follow these steps to compare offers from up to four colleges at a time.
To view cost comparisons:
- Create a file on your computer called Cost Comparison. Select four colleges with awards you want to compare.
- Next to each college listed, enter the cost and create a field to indicate your decision after reviewing the comparison questions.
- Enter the award rating with 5 stars being the best.
- Save the file for future reference.
Comparison Questions
Look over your cost comparison information. Check out the following line items for each college on your list:
- Award Rating: What is the star rating? 5 stars is best. 3-5 stars is a good award.
- Percent of Need Met: Is the school meeting more than 50% of your need?
- Average Need Based Award: Does your award match or exceed the Average Need based financial aid package? If not, ask the college why your award is less than their average.
- “Gift” aid offered: Look at the Total Grants and Total Scholarships awarded. This is money you don’t have to pay back. Which school is offering you the most in these two categories combined?
- Student Loans offered: The loan limit for Direct Loans for a dependent freshman is $5,500. Are you being offered this amount between subsidized and unsubsidized?
- Unmet Need (Gap): Do you have need? Is there unmet need? How much? If you have unmet need, contact the college to negotiate for more financial aid.
- Four/Six Year Outlook: Which college will cost you more if you take four years to graduate? Six years to graduate?
Take Action
By comparing financial aid awards side by side, you will see which colleges have given you the best offers. This is important to consider as you are weighing which college to attend in the fall.