40 THE QUEENS COURIER • KIDS & EDUCATION • OCTOBER 31, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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5 things to know about college
fi nancial aid award letters
High school students across the country
will soon be eagerly awaiting fi nancial
aid award letters from colleges. For many
aspiring college students and their parents,
this is when things can start to get
complicated.
College is a big expense and it’s important
to have a clear understanding of the
fi nancing options to ensure students
and their parents make wise decisions.
According to a recent survey from College
Ave Students Loans by Barnes & Noble
College Insights, more than twice as many
parents (69 percent) found this time - fi guring
out how to pay for college - more
stressful than the college selection process
(30 percent).
Joe DePaulo, CEO and Co-Founder
of College Ave Student Loans, is here to
help by decoding one of the most important
documents on the road to college: the
fi nancial aid award letter.
1. Financial aid award letters
can be confusing.
Financial aid letters vary from school
to school. Th ere is no uniform format
they must follow, so each letter can vary
in how they use symbols (such as L or LN
for loans) and even how they calculate
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the cost of college. Make sure to compare
how items such as scholarships, loans and
work-study are applied to the bottom line.
2. Know the ‘net
price’ of college.
Your letter may include the cost of
attendance (COA), which is an estimate
of what you can expect to pay for one year
of school. Typically the COA includes tuition,
fees, and room and board. To fi nd
the ‘net price’ at the college, subtract the
‘free aid,’ or scholarships and grants, from
the COA. Th is net price - which sometimes
can be signifi cantly lower than the
‘sticker’ price of a college - is the amount
the family is expected to pay.
3. Expect to pay more.
Th ough fi nancial aid award letters typically
call out the “expected family contribution”
(EFC), expect to pay more over
the course of the year. According to the
College Ave survey, 59 percent of parents
said college was more expensive than they
had anticipated. Parking, transportation
home, club and organization fees, even
dining out, can add to the bottom line.
4. You can petition
your award letter.
If you felt the fi nancial aid award letter
did not accurately represent your family’s
needs, you can ask the school to re-evaluate
your fi nancial aid off er (especially
if your circumstances have changed).
Contact the fi nancial aid offi ce and
request they review your cost of attendance
to ensure it includes other expenses
(such as childcare) or changes in your
ability to pay (job loss or medical costs),
which may help you secure more money
in grants, work-study or loans.
5. Keep applying for
scholarships.
While some scholarship applications
have many applicants, others have little
competition. Be sure to apply for specialty
scholarships unique to your area of educational
study or even local area. Every
amount helps and reduces the amount
your family has to pay. One easy scholarship
to apply for is the College Ave $1,000
Scholarship Monthly Sweepstakes.
If you fi nd you still fall short aft er scholarships
and grants and federal loans in the
student’s name, one option to consider is
a private student loan. Look for a private
loan with good interest rates and fl exible
terms that meet your family’s unique
needs. Check out the College Ave Student
Loans calculator to fi nd out how diff erent
repayment plans save you money over the
total cost of the loan.
Courtesy BPT
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