While you are searching for schools, you’ve probably often heard people say, “Find the school that is affordable.” But how do you do that? Some say look at public schools, because they have lower price tags. Others will say private colleges can offer more aid. In certain circumstances, both of those statements can be true. Sometimes the public colleges are less expensive and sometimes private colleges offer more financial aid making them more affordable than a public school.

When thinking about college costs, you must consider financial aid. Financial aid is the tool to bringing that price tag down into a reasonable number. When you apply for financial aid, you may see a variety of items on your financial aid award letter. Over the next two days, I’ll explain what the items are and how you can best determine what the college offers more of.

The first thing you may see is a scholarship. This is usually merit-based, meaning the student earned that scholarship either through grades, athletics, or possibly leadership/community service. Scholarships are great because they don’t have to be paid back. The more in merit a school offers, the better, as it is money you do not have to borrow or take from savings.

The second thing you may see is grants. This is also money the student doesn’t have to pay back, but is often times based on the family’s financial need (determined by filing the FAFSA). These grants are either federally funded, or funded directly by the institution.  Again, the more a school offers in grant money, the better.

You will also see a combination of federal student loans and a program called federal work-study. These programs fall into what is called self-help aid. These are programs that are either paid for upfront and the student must work to earn the money, or paid back after the student graduates. While these aren’t free like grants and scholarships, it’s still a great idea to take advantage of all that is offered to help manage the cost of college. The maximum amount a student can be awarded through the federal loan programs and work-study is set by the federal government and is consistent among various colleges.

Tomorrow, I will post about how you can find out the amounts of each type of aid a college typically offers. Be sure to check back in!

By the Numbers,

Rich