As the cost of college has sky-rocketed, students are accumulating more and more debt. You hear horror stories of student graduating with over $100,000, $150,000, or $200,000 in college debt just for an undergraduate education. And with tuition at some schools exceeding $60,000 a year, you have to wonder if that high student debt is … Read more
Financial aid is money students are awarded to pay college. There are two forms of financial aid: gift aid and self-help aid. Gift aid is money that the student doesn’t have to repay. It can take the form of scholarships or grants. Self-help aid is money the student will be responsible for repaying such as … Read more
Financial aid is awarded based on two general categories, need-based and non-need (merit) based. When people hear the term “financial aid,” they are generally thinking of financial assistance provided because of the student’s financial need. A student’s financial need is based on her financial status and the cost of the school she actually attends. Financial … Read more
No–with a big assumption. The assumption is that you already know approximately how much you can afford and how much financial aid a college is likely to give you. That means that you have already used a calculator such as the College Board’s EFC Calculator to estimate your expected family contribution (EFC) and the college’s … Read more
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
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
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
