Cost of American University

What loans were in the other aid packages? Just the federal student loans? Or were there also suggested Parent Plus loans?

Did you run the Net Price Calculators at the websites of these places before she applied? If so, were the aid packages in the predicted range?

Did you give her a budget limit at the beginning of the college hunt? Or were the costs of college a complete awful surprise to your family?

If the numbers don’t work, she can take a gap year and apply to a more affordable list for fall 2020. Since she’s interested in languages, this could be a good opportunity to go abroad with an organization like YFU or AFS to work on one of her languages.