Up until now, everyone's been evaluating YOU. Now you get to decide which offer to choose. Our advice: Look before you leap, and delay any final judgment until you've dissected and compared each school's financial aid award letter.
An award letter outlines how much financial support a particular school is offering you for the upcoming academic year. All schools follow a basic formula: cost of attendance (COA) minus the expected family contribution (EFC) equals financial need. Financial aid awards can cover up to the dollar amount defined as your "financial need." The award letter explains the type and amount of aid the student will receive (you accept or decline each part of an aid package) and cites the remaining amount the family is expected to pay.
Not surprisingly, this is the number that students and parents zoom in on, but the true differences between aid packages aren't always obvious. How an award package is structured is often as important as your out-of-pocket costs. A very expensive school can offer a tuition discount that makes it affordable. Another example, if School A's package has a lower “you pay” number but emphasizes loans that must be repaid, yet School B's package offers an outright gift aid grant then School B may be the better bargain.
Acceptances and award letters should arrive by April 1. First, confirm each accepting school's Candidate Reply deadline (usually May 1) so you know your decision window. Use that time to evaluate each aid package carefully, and crunch the numbers for a true comparison.
Nellie Mae can help! Use our free, online award letter comparison calculator and enter the details of up to three schools' award packages at a time. The program generates an instant comparative analysis. Have questions about a particular award letter? Contact the specific school so financial aid officers can answer your questions.
Making your decision Once you have a solid handle on each financial aid package, re-examine the advantages and disadvantages of each school with fresh eyes. If you can, participate in accepted-student programs in April: Spend a night in a dorm, attend classes, and talk to students and other accepted students. You're looking for a school where you can stretch, grow, and thrive.
Once you decide which school and financial aid package is right for you, formally accept the offer of admission and be sure to comply with all instructions and deadlines in the admissions letter. Notify the financial aid office that you're accepting their aid award either in whole or in part. And let the other colleges know that you are going elsewhere.
Dealing with “the gap” While cost is but one factor in choosing one school over another, it's a major consideration for most families. Financial aid rarely covers the entire cost of attendance. More typically, "the gap" looms—the shortfall between a school's total COA and the total aid awarded.
Parents looking to bridge that gap may face difficult financial choices in some circumstances. To help parents analyze all their options, Nellie Mae offers a free booklet, “A parent's guide to planning and paying for college" (PDF, 1.41MB), that clearly spells out the pros and cons of parents' top 10 education financing options. View or download our brilliant parent's guide.