The college financial aid office will develop a financial aid package for your child using the data you provided on the FAFSA. The award letter will tell you the total amount of financial aid a school is offering. The Award letter will list all scholarships, grants, work-study, and loans being offered to your student. Every school has its own guidelines for putting together a package.

Most financial aid administrators follow these basic steps in putting together a financial aid package:

• Determine the student's Cost of Attendance (COA). This is generally expressed as an annual figure for on-campus, off-campus, and commuter students.
  
  
• Determine financial need by using below formula:

• The College will then decide how to meet your student’s need with a combination of grants, scholarships, work-study, institutional aid, and loans for students and parents .
  
  
• Understand every financial aid office has different rules and guidelines for determining how they will meet the needs of their students.
  
  
• The college will then create an award letter and mail to students in the Spring.

Comparing Awards

• Review the amount of the award that is gift aid and the amount that is self-help aid. The higher the proportion of gift aid (scholarships and grants) to loans, the better the award.



• Review each school's cost of attendance.



• Consider the out-of-pocket costs and the gift aid to loan ratio.

A student may decline, accept or appeal any award in total or in portion. This is typically a consideration when accepting the self-help portion of your aid package. Only appeal a financial aid award when you strongly believe your family cannot reasonably handle the financial burden. Each school will have their own appeals process, but all appeals should be done in writing. Use an appeals letter to build your ease and provide documentation to back up your claims.