NASFAA Mention: How to Write a Financial Aid Appeal Letter
Successful financial aid appeals are rare, experts say. But crafting a good financial aid appeal letter can give students the best chance of getting more money for college," U.S. News & World Report writes. "After receiving an award letter, students may be able to appeal the financial aid package they were given by a specific college. Not all students find themselves in a circumstance that merits writing an appeal letter to request more financial aid, and in some situations appealing could even lower the amount of aid they receive."
"But Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and vice president of research for Savingforcollege.com, says more awareness is needed about appeals.
'Too often families think of the financial aid award letter as being set in stone and not subject to appeal,' he says. 'The first sign there might be an issue is if the financial aid offer is not merely a harsh assessment of your ability to pay, but an impossible assessment. Chances are there is some bit of information the financial aid office was unaware of when they calculated your financial aid package.'
In those cases, families should consider appealing the financial aid offer, he says, noting that an appeal letter should be written by a parent if the student is considered a dependent.
... No two financial aid circumstances are the same. Even in situations when two families have a similar event occur that inhibits their ability to pay for college, Kantrowitz says they shouldn't expect the same outcome from an appeal. Colleges and financial aid administrators have significant flexibility in deciding how to respond to appeals.
'Schools are able to practice what is called professional judgment,' says Megan Coval, vice president of policy and federal relations at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
'This is a process that we think works pretty well right now, and we like the flexibility schools have. If you made it a little more standardized or rigid, you'd run the risk of it being too one size fits all, and there are so, so many different scenarios in which students might appeal or ask for professional judgment to be done. So we think that's in the hands of the financial aid office and the student,' she says."
NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.
Publication Date: 4/11/2019
