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NPR Ed
Financial
aid award letters can be a little confusing
It’s college-fever time! That time of year where high school seniors
are inundated with the question: What’s next? What are your plans after
graduation?
For many, if there’s even a possibility that college might be the
answer, the decision is closely tied to a college's financial aid
offer. But since there’s no current standardization of these offers,
letters look vastly different from one school to the next. They're
often filled with confusing terms and jargon, and not all colleges
define and calculate these terms the same way.
One way students can navigate these letters is by using a tool that
help calculate what each school would ultimately cost. Lots of a
nonprofits and school districts offer them. We like this one a student
shared from College Advising Corps. See below. To use it, simply make a
copy of the spreadsheet (Click "File" and then click "Make a copy.").
We’ve also put together a guide of financial aid terms to help students
and their families navigate through these offers. We got lots of help
from the folks at uAspire, New America and the National Association of
Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). But even those experts
warned us not all schools use these financial aid terms the same way.
To clarify how a particular school is using these terms, reach out to
its financial aid office. They are there to help!
Could we see this “mess” get cleaned up anytime soon? Perhaps! There’s
recent legislation in Congress that would make offer letters look the
same across schools, with standardized definitions and terms so
students could easily compare them.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, told NPR that students
need to know how much it costs to go to college, "not something that's
cloudy and doesn't really turn out that way." Grassley is one of the
sponsors of the bill. Why shouldn't we bring as much truth as we can to
the college process, he said.
College Advising Corps… click here
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