College Finances: Money Talks

Post-application process, college expenses factor into picking a college after you receive all your acceptances and schools send out their decisions with merit scholarship offers. If you’ve started looking at numbers, you’d agree college costs an arm and a leg, or two. Fortunately, colleges offer financial aid to help alleviate the financial burden on families with college students; however, financial aid differs from student to student depending on their financial situation and the college they plan on attending.

Most colleges offer students four types of financial aid: grants, scholarships, work-study, and loans. Grants typically fall under “need-based” aid, which colleges offer students based on the information provided on the FAFSA and CSS profiles, which provide colleges with an overview of a family’s economic situation. (Not all schools require a CSS, but in order to take advantage of any financial aid, students and families must fill out and submit a FAFSA form). Scholarships usually count as merit-based aid and colleges award students money based on achievements. Some colleges automatically consider you for merit-based aid with your application and some may require you to apply for them separately with an additional essay by an earlier deadline for consideration. Schools may offer students a work-study opportunity where they can work on campus to cover college expenses. If you do not qualify for financial aid or the aid does not suffice to cover all costs, you can take out a federal loan.

Students can generally borrow a maximum of $5500 a year under a subsidized loan, where the government covers the interest while students attend school (U.S. Department of Education). Ideally, families should avoid Parent Plus loans. Although you can borrow more money under a Parent Plus loan, it leaves parents locked into those amounts and interest rates. (Parent Plus loans cannot be paid off using any other loan source or combination like refinancing). The loan accumulates extremely high interest, leaving families with a heavy charge after four years of undergraduate schooling. Naturally, you can opt for non-federal loans from private organizations or banks.

Considering the type of schools you’ve applied to, you could gauge the type and amount of aid they could offer. For example, private schools give aid more generously than public schools due to their smaller size and greater funding. If you’re applying to an in-state school, colleges charge a lower tuition than if you’re applying out of state. You can find college expenses on the school website; they outline tuition, room and board, fees, and the difference between in-state and out-of-state expenses. With your acceptance, colleges send out a financial aid offer detailing any need-based or merit-based aid they will award you. Some colleges may include it within the acceptance letter and others might send you an offer separately, so stay attentive to your email inbox.

After receiving all your financial aid offers, you can begin weighing your options to make the wisest choice financially. You can appeal a financial aid offer from a school you’re set on attending. You could appeal based on financial need or merit to negotiate for extra money per academic year. Some students ask colleges if they can match another university’s financial aid offers; however, you should evaluate the colleges’ comparability. For example, consider their sizes, whether they are public or private, and their states. Viable options include emailing, calling, or visiting the college’s financial aid office to get yourself in contact with a financial aid officer.

Outside of the financial aid office, you can apply for external scholarships to try and earn financial aid independently. You can find countless websites with scholarship information for upcoming college freshmen. Of course, look for reputable sources like websites ending in .org or .edu and avoid “no essay” scholarships as they tend to scam applicants. Mrs. Mansfield, one of our senior high English teachers, recommends checking other local schools’ guidance websites for scholarship information for her senior students. Look for local scholarships as well. While they might award less money, you may be more likely to win them in a smaller applicant pool and several small scholarships add up! Take advantage of your resources to give yourself a financial boost as a prospective college freshman.

Sources: 

Counseling / Financial Aid 

Federal Student Aid