“Tips For Getting The Best Possible

College Funding Deal”

Dear Parent, 

By now, you should be receiving award letters from the colleges and universities that have accepted your child for admission. This month we’ll talk about how to use the information in these letters to get the best deal for your child’s education.

Here are the steps to take as you start to get award letters in the mail:

Step One: Fax Me A Copy So I Can Carefully Examine Each Award Letter For You.

The award letter is basically an outline of the financial aid package that the institution has decided to offer you. The typical award letter contains these parts.

•     The total cost of attending the school for one year. The school should include all known costs, including tuition, fees, room and board, transportation, and misc. fees and expenses. Many schools only list some of them, so it appears they are finding a greater portion of your need. Remember, the cost of attendance is your cost, not some “average” cost in a brochure or catalog.

•     Your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This number should be the same as the EFC on the copy of the FAFSA Report (SAR) you received from our office.

•     Your financial need. This is the difference between the total cost of attendance and your Expected Family Contribution. The school uses this number to determine your eligibility for financial aid.

•     A description of each type of aid being awarded, including the amount. This may include loans, scholarships, grants, work/study programs or other forms of aid.

Step Two: Review your Award Letter to determine the deadline for acceptance.

Check the award letter for a deadline for accepting the offer. The typical date is May 1 (for most schools). If yours is different, please make a note. If it is later, great. If it’s earlier than May 1, then call the Financial Aid Office immediately and ask for an extension. It’s usually not a problem, but be safe anyway. 

In some cases, you may wonder if you should reject certain parts of the aid package. For instance, perhaps you and your student have decided that it would not be prudent to take an offer of a work/study program. You are allowed to accept parts of the offer and reject others, but is it a good idea? This depends on many factors that will be unique to you and your family. We should discuss all of these options as well as some “tax-favored” strategies for paying your “expected family contribution” without increasing your expenses or out-of-pocket costs! This is the next step in the process, but for now we need to make a decision on what package to accept, and which ones need to be appealed so you can make a decision by the May 1st deadline!

Step Three: Realize Financial Aid offers are not cast in stone! They often can be appealed.

Look beyond the bare numbers in the offers. At first glance, it may seem that School A, which offers you $12,000, is a better choice than School B, which offers you $8,000. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story. You have to take several factors into consideration to make an accurate comparison: 

•    What is the total cost of sending the student to each school? Consider not only tuition, but also room, board, fees, books, travel and spending money. Did the school include all of your costs into their Cost of Attendance numbers? Many do not! By leaving some of the costs off, it makes it appear their offer is better than it really is. Our Award Letter Analysis will take the mystery out of their award.
•    What type of aid is being offered? If School A’s higher award is mostly in the form of loans and School B’s offer is mostly in the form of grants and scholarships, School B’s financial aid package may be a better deal for you. With interest, School A’s loans will end up costing you more money in the long run. On the other hand, free money, which you don’t need to repay, is usually a better deal than loans and work/study offers.
•  Which school is a better value for you and your child? It may be better to dig deeper into your pocket for a more prestigious college or university or one that offers the best education in your child’s field of study. Although money is certainly a big factor in choosing a school, it shouldn’t be the only one.

Step Four: Did some major change occur since the FAFSA was processed?

Illness in the family, divorce, separation, job loss, reduction in your income, a jump in tuition for another child who is already in college.., any of these unfortunate circumstances could have a silver lining. If this has occurred, we need to let the Financial Aid Office know the situation and ask them, politely, to consider this in re-evaluating their financial aid package. Be prepared, though, to be ready to provide documentation of the new situation.

The excitement builds as you receive award letters in the mail. It’s easy to get confused by all the different offers. When you FAX or mail us the “Award Letters”, we can help you make sense of them.

After you’ve accepted the award, and decided on the college your student will be attending, the next step is absolutely crucial! How are you going to pay, and what is the best way, to pay your “Expected Family Contribution”? We have until late summer to finalize your “funding plan” for the parent’s portion of the costs.  Don’t hesitate to call us to help you solidify your plan.

            This is about all there is, but keep your chin up! You’re almost home for this year’s planning.

            We need to keep in mind, we’re almost halfway through the first year and this is your next “base year”, which will determine your “Expected Family Contribution” for your son/daughter’s next year of college. We have to be aware of this in all our conversations and discussions coming up!

Until next month…Best Wishes!

Randy Stoltz, President