I don't understand my financial aid package???

Paying for College
1

Hey y’all!
I got an early admission offer from Grinnell College (yay!!!) and I don’t think I really understand the financial aid package.
It’s something along the lines of:

Scholarship A: XX
Scholarship B: XXXXX
Pell Grant: XX
Work Study: X
Loans: X

Subtotal: XXXXXXX

Is the subtotal the amount of aid they’re giving me based on the package or the amount we’re expected to pay? Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but I’m kind of new (and very lost) in this whole college thing.

Thank you!

2

The subtotal equals the total financial aid you could possibly get. Don’t think of it all as “aid they’re giving” you, though, because you have to work to receive work-study funds and you have to pay back loans. You can post the actual numbers, if you want, if you’d like some advice about whether the aid package is sufficient for you.

3

@rosered55 Thank you. They left a message in my FA portal that said the estimate and the actual aid received will likely not change at all. And the work-study and loans are extremely minimal. My subtotal is $30,100.

4

Billed Costs (tuition, fees, room, board) minus (ScholarshipA+B +Pell) = amount you have to pay.

You can get part of that amount you have to pay by taking the loans, and by working the work-study job.

You will also have some costs that aren’t billed - books, transportation, personal items. You’ll also have to pay those too.

5

When comparing offers don’t so much look at what you received but what you have left to pay.

6

Helpful responses so far. I made a spreadsheet for my kids FA offers with total cost (tuition, room, board, travel/other) and had columns for grants offered (college-specific scholarships or federal), and work study and loans (loans were always the same, WS varied).

I looked at net price (costs minus grants) and out of pocket price (costs minus grants and work study since loans were always the same). It was very useful to enter that info and then have it to see exact cost differences between schools when it was time for them to make their decisions.

7

You also have to look at how the school determines the COA. Some schools will use the average dorm cost others might use the lowest cost dorm. Same for food plans. You really need to look at what the likely cost will be for your student.

8

I suggest looking at packages this way:
Grants, scholarships, subsidized loans, unsubsidized loans, institutional loans = available aid
Tuition for full course load (some publish at 12 credits, but you should be taking more), fees, realistic room/board costs (if there are dorm/food options, which would YOU choose?) = costs

Beware the institutional loans, because while this is available aid, borrowing more than the federal loan limits can lead to more debt than a young person should take on. Don’t count in work study, because that is not guaranteed and doesn’t reduce your bill.

If a school is in a high-cost area, be sure to consider the extra costs that will bring - similarly, if the school is located in a particularly low-cost area, that will reduce expected personal expenses when compared to other schools. If you have to fly back/forth, consider the differences in transportation costs (including Uber/Lyft/taxi fees).

The published COA is a good start, but I think you have to look beyond that. My D attended a school that had expenses built into the COA that were higher than those other schools included - and we were confident that D’s expenses would not be that high. We were correct, and in choosing a school that seemed like it would cost more if we didn’t really look carefully, we ended up with what turned out to be a bargain compared to her other offers.

9

These are all so helpful and such good ideas!!! I’ll definitely be taking this advice. Thank you all so much :slight_smile: <3