SAR stands for Student Aid Report and is what you receive after your FAFSA is processed. If you provided an email, you should receive a link to your SAR three to five days after submitting the FAFSA. If you submitted a paper version without an email address, it will take up to three weeks to … Read more
Yes. You can appeal your financial aid award if there has been a change in your family circumstance or if you believe that the process did not account for a specific aspect of your family situation. The following is a list of reasons why you might appeal your financial aid award: Job loss Reduction of … Read more
The Federal Methodology is the formula used by the federal government in calculating a student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC) which determines their eligibility for financial aid. Students receive their EFC by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and receiving their Student Aid Report (SAR). The Federal Methodology is used for calculating the … Read more
The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) program is a campus-based aid program. The school’s financial aid office receives a certain amount of SEOG funds each year and then distributes the money to its students based on financial need. The school sets the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant requirements, the deadlines, and the award amounts which … Read more
An outside scholarship is one that is not part of the financial aid package awarded to you by the college. You need to report any outside scholarships to the financial aid office because it will affect your need-based aid. Schools are required by Federal rules to adjust financial aid package so that the total of … Read more
The simple answer is not to apply to any college that you can’t afford to attend. Of course, given that the vast majority of financial aid is awarded by colleges, most students don’t actually know if they can afford a college until they are accepted and have received their financial aid award letters. However, the … Read more
In the most general terms, Average Net Price is the price that students actually pay for college as opposed to the “list” price or Total Cost of Attendance. The government defines average net price “by subtracting the average amount of federal, state/local government, or institutional grant or scholarship aid from the total cost of attendance. … Read more
Families need to understand the difference between public and private colleges because of the differences in prices and financial aid. Public institutions are colleges that operate under the ultimate control of a state or local government (there are some exceptions). These colleges receive a significant amount of their budgets from state appropriations although the amount … Read more
Net price calculators (NPC) are a way for students and their families to estimate how much it would cost to attend a specific college. All colleges that accept federal funds are required to provide Net Price Calculators on their websites. The NPC is supposed to provide estimated net price information to current and prospective students … Read more
