Weighing offers of financial aid
April 24, 2006 - Posted in College Grant, Financial AidIt’s financial aid time for graduating high school seniors. Choosing among the complicated packages of loans, grants and student employment isn’t easy, but for many families, it’s the deciding factor in where to send their children to college.
Here are a few tips from Stephen Joyce, director of student aid at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine:
Make sure you know the total cost of attending a particular college. Tuition, fees, room and board are typically easy to find, but colleges often neglect to mention the cost of books, travel and personal expenses, which should be factored into your budget. Books alone can cost $900 a year.
Size up how much grant money you’re being offered. “Everything else you’re going to have to work for or pay back at some stage,” Joyce says. “If you want to determine generosity, it’s cost minus grant offers.”
Find out how your financial aid will change over the four years at a college. Many schools shift their aid packages from grants to loans as a student gets older. That is partly because federal law increases the Stafford loan maximum from $2,625 for freshmen to $5,500 for seniors, but colleges also know that a senior nearing graduation won’t drop out of school.
Figure out how much debt you’ll be carrying at graduation. Ask how indebted the average senior is at the student aid office. The answer will likely be more than four times your first-year loans.
Ask questions and double-check the financial information you submitted. If you have special circumstances — a major medical expense, loss of income — make sure the college knows that, says Joyce.
Plead your case with the admissions officer. “We know where families can save money,” Joyce says. If you have a better aid offer from somewhere else, don’t be afraid to use that as leverage. Colleges are competitive, but don’t bluff — most will ask for a copy of the other offer.
Source: MarketWatch.com