Understanding Financial Aid Award Letters

Representatives from HEC’s Educational Opportunity Centers and Upward Bound attended the Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s 2014-15 Annual Financial Aid Certification – Series 2 Training. While that sounds quite complicated, our ISAC trainer made all the discussion about financial aid and funding for higher education both accessible and literally tangible.

One of the hands on activities attendees practiced was decoding financial aid award letters. Someone may ask, “What’s to decipher?” Well, there is a lot to consider when looking at a financial aid award letter so families ultimately select the best deal. Below are some takeaways when breaking down award letters:

Be like this baby when it comes
to reading your award letters.

1. Total cost of attendance. Go in with your eyes wide open. Many folks stop at tuition and room & board, but the total cost of attendance encompasses much more, such as tuition, room & board, books, travel expenses, and miscellaneous expenses. 

2. Terms of scholarships and grants. Just because you get it one year, doesn’t mean you will automatically get it the next year. Some scholarships and grants are only for freshmen; if so, consider how those costs will be covered later. Some scholarships and grants are only renewable if you maintain a certain GPA. Also, check if you can keep your athletic scholarship in the event that you cannot play for a duration of time. It's all in the fine print; so read the whole page.

3. Use a comparison worksheet. It’s only the holy grail of financial aid land! This offers you a side-by-side comparison of how much each school is giving you and how much you’ll have to come out of pocket. Do the math for each school; the school with the highest cost of attendance, just may offer you more aid. So, use the worksheet below to do the math! To access it, visit www.isac.org and follow these links: Students & Parents → Before College → Making an Informed Choice → Financial Aid Comparison Worksheet