IT’S NOT ALWAYS APPLES TO APPLES Add up all direct (tuition, fees, meal plan, and on-campus housing) and indirect (books, supplies, travel to and from campus, and rent if your student will live off campus) costs. Between loans, work-study, grants, and scholarships, how much financial aid is each school offering? Check all scholarship requirements (like maintaining a certain GPA) and the duration (first year only, or all four years). Take your student’s cost of attendance (COA) and subtract the total gift aid offered (do not include loans, since those funds must be paid back). Use this total for your apples-to-apples comparison. What if your student’s top choice school doesn’t offer as much aid as other universities? If the cost of attendance will make it impossible for your student to attend, contact the financial aid office or your student’s admissions counselor to discuss your situation. How to Compare Offer Letters Once your student has heard from all the colleges they applied to, sit down together to review. Each offer of admission will be set up a little differently, so it’s important to carefully compare them. CALCULATE COST OF ATTENDANCE REVIEW AID COA – GIFT AID = OFFER WHEN TO REACH OUT MEET YOUR ADMISSIONS COUNSELOR
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