"It’s college admission season, the time of year when you find out whether you’re accepted by the schools you hope to attend this fall. It’s also the time that you find out something else—how much financial aid the schools are offering you," Consumer Reports writes. 

"The information comes in a financial aid offer letter, which will be either mailed or emailed to you once you’ve been accepted. The letter tells you the cost of one year’s attendance, any grants, scholarships, loans, or work-study programs that you qualify for, and how much the college expects you to contribute.

You apply for financial aid by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which determines your eligibility for federal aid. Colleges, states, and many scholarship programs use the FAFSA to determine what aid they will give you. The school puts all that information together and details it in the offer letter.

Most schools give you until May 1 to decide whether you’ll attend. That gives you time to compare the financial aid offers from each college and decide which school is the best financial fit.

It’s important to take the time to understand the differences. Financial aid packages can be confusing, partly because there are no standard forms or terms that describe the assistance. It may not be clear that some of the financial aid comes in the forms of loans, which some students later struggle to pay back.

In 2012, the Department of Education created a standardized offer letter that it encourages schools to use to make it easier to compare aid packages. The DOE revamped the template for the letter in January to make it simpler. It also changed the name from the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet to the College Financing Plan to emphasize to students that they are making a financial transaction by enrolling in college, one that could include taking on loans. But using the form is voluntary, and only about half of schools use it.

'How much you’re going to pay for school is one of the most important aspects of deciding where to go to college,' says Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. 'Families and students need to take the time to understand what kind of financial help they’re getting.'

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: 3/8/2019