<p>This is something that's been on my mind lately. So, suppose a student gets an award for X amount for the freshman year. It's need based aid at a full-need college, and the student's family financial situation shouldn't change much over the next 4 years. </p>
<p>When she is calculating how much the college will cost in all, should she assume that she'll get the same amount of aid and balance of loans v. grants per year? Or do colleges offer the most enticing packages to freshmen?</p>
<p>It’s likely that the expected student contribution/ loans will increase.</p>
<p>That’s what I was afraid of… by about how much, generally, would the student contribution and/or loans increase? Say at a $50k+ private, $30k private, etc. I’m interested in anybody’s anecdotes or input!</p>
<p>My college has a $1,250 student contribution for first years, a $1,900 student contribution for sophomores, and a $1,950 student contribution for junior and senior years.</p>
<p>This can vary according from school to school, so make sure you understand how it works at each school that you are considering.</p>
<p>Google for schools’ Common Data Set section H, especially H5, which gives the average amount of indebtedness at graduation.</p>
<p>I am a out of state student at The University of Iowa and my financial aid package for sophmore is the same as freshmen year if not better considering that cost of attendance has increased.</p>