Financial Fit
How will you judge whether or not a school will be affordable for your family?
Understand that funding for financial aid may come from the federal government, state government, private sources, and from the colleges and universities themselves. Financial assistance consists of several types: grants and scholarships, loans and work-study.
Very little scholarship money comes from outside scholarships, that is, from sources other than the institution of higher learning itself. This means you must be able to afford the school based on that financial award letter you'll receive in your acceptance packages next year. The goal for many students is to maximize scholarships and grants and minimize loans.
Scholarships and Grants
Scholarships and grants are outright gifts of money. Most of the time, they are based upon need. Sometimes, money is awarded for academic excellence and promise, or for special achievements or abilities. This is also known as merit aid or gift aid, or just plain discount. If you know you will be needing merit aid—that is, if your Student Aid Index (see glossary of terms) is very low, but your family doesn't really want to spend up to $70k for a private college for each year of school, then know that you should be in the top 25% of applicants for most of your schools of choice. To get an idea if you are, compare your grades and test scores to those of the schools' admitted students. (This information is google-able.)
Loans
Loans are a significant part of most aid packages. They must be repaid, but most often not until after graduation. Interest rates on these loans are usually lower than on other types of loans. The payback period on college loans varies from two or three years up to 30 years.
Work-Study
Work-study is part-time employment for a student, usually on-campus, to help with college expenses.
The important message here is that it is not at all too early to talk with your family about the financial piece of the college picture.
Beginning December 31, you'll need to complete the Free Federal Application for Federal Student Aid, affectionately known as "your FAFSA." (You will hear have you completed "your FAFSA" an estimated one hundred times.) But guess what? Right now, long before the FAFSA application opens, you can estimate the amount of money you might be eligible to receive from the Federal government. How? Easy! Or at least Not Difficult! Go to the website https://studentaid.gov/aid-estimator/. The Federal Student Aid Estimator asks you questions about you, and about your parents if you're a dependent student. Gather some material [Federal tax information or tax returns including W-2 information; info on savings, investments, and assets] before you begin, and you'll get through the questions quickly. Just fill out all the questions using your best guesses. The number you'll get at the end is called the Student Aid Index, or SAI.
Next, you can get a good idea of what colleges would expect your family to pay by going to their websites. By law, institutions are required to provide a Net Price Calculator. Plug in some information, and you'll get an estimate. Here is an example of a Net Price Calculator for Kalamazoo College because that right there is a catchy name.
You may have heard of the Western Undergraduate Exchange, or WUE, (pronounced Woo-wee; good one). With WUE, out-of-state students pay no more than 150% of in-state tuition at participating schools all over the West, compared with nonresident rates that can exceed 300% of in-state rates. You can look into WUE schools here.
Community College is an excellent alternative to a four-year institution, and you can be on a transfer track and get your degree from the four-year school to which you transfer. Click for more about this opportunity at, as an example, Portland Community College.
Okay. Here's how you could approach your college list. Research 5 schools you've identified using some of your tools—the College List Making Inventory, MaiaLearning, Collegeboard.org, school websites.
Now, add the Financial Fit bit to your growing list of Colleges that Fit by doing the following:
Here again are relevant links:
Financial Aid Glossary of Terms
Federal Student Aid Estimator: https://studentaid.gov/aid-estimator/
A reminder: there is a LOT of information on this website: https://clevelandccc.weebly.com/
Another reminder: there is a LOT of information in your gorgeous Green Folders
Understand that funding for financial aid may come from the federal government, state government, private sources, and from the colleges and universities themselves. Financial assistance consists of several types: grants and scholarships, loans and work-study.
Very little scholarship money comes from outside scholarships, that is, from sources other than the institution of higher learning itself. This means you must be able to afford the school based on that financial award letter you'll receive in your acceptance packages next year. The goal for many students is to maximize scholarships and grants and minimize loans.
Scholarships and Grants
Scholarships and grants are outright gifts of money. Most of the time, they are based upon need. Sometimes, money is awarded for academic excellence and promise, or for special achievements or abilities. This is also known as merit aid or gift aid, or just plain discount. If you know you will be needing merit aid—that is, if your Student Aid Index (see glossary of terms) is very low, but your family doesn't really want to spend up to $70k for a private college for each year of school, then know that you should be in the top 25% of applicants for most of your schools of choice. To get an idea if you are, compare your grades and test scores to those of the schools' admitted students. (This information is google-able.)
Loans
Loans are a significant part of most aid packages. They must be repaid, but most often not until after graduation. Interest rates on these loans are usually lower than on other types of loans. The payback period on college loans varies from two or three years up to 30 years.
Work-Study
Work-study is part-time employment for a student, usually on-campus, to help with college expenses.
The important message here is that it is not at all too early to talk with your family about the financial piece of the college picture.
Beginning December 31, you'll need to complete the Free Federal Application for Federal Student Aid, affectionately known as "your FAFSA." (You will hear have you completed "your FAFSA" an estimated one hundred times.) But guess what? Right now, long before the FAFSA application opens, you can estimate the amount of money you might be eligible to receive from the Federal government. How? Easy! Or at least Not Difficult! Go to the website https://studentaid.gov/aid-estimator/. The Federal Student Aid Estimator asks you questions about you, and about your parents if you're a dependent student. Gather some material [Federal tax information or tax returns including W-2 information; info on savings, investments, and assets] before you begin, and you'll get through the questions quickly. Just fill out all the questions using your best guesses. The number you'll get at the end is called the Student Aid Index, or SAI.
Next, you can get a good idea of what colleges would expect your family to pay by going to their websites. By law, institutions are required to provide a Net Price Calculator. Plug in some information, and you'll get an estimate. Here is an example of a Net Price Calculator for Kalamazoo College because that right there is a catchy name.
You may have heard of the Western Undergraduate Exchange, or WUE, (pronounced Woo-wee; good one). With WUE, out-of-state students pay no more than 150% of in-state tuition at participating schools all over the West, compared with nonresident rates that can exceed 300% of in-state rates. You can look into WUE schools here.
Community College is an excellent alternative to a four-year institution, and you can be on a transfer track and get your degree from the four-year school to which you transfer. Click for more about this opportunity at, as an example, Portland Community College.
Okay. Here's how you could approach your college list. Research 5 schools you've identified using some of your tools—the College List Making Inventory, MaiaLearning, Collegeboard.org, school websites.
- Identify 2 "Really Likely" schools" (your GPA and standardized test scores are well above the median)
- 2 "Could Go Either Way" schools (your GPA and standardized test scores are in the median range)
- And 1 "Wildcard" school (your GPA and standardized test scores are within, but near the bottom of the median range for that school.)
Now, add the Financial Fit bit to your growing list of Colleges that Fit by doing the following:
- Fill out the Federal Student Aid Estimator.
- Complete the NetPrice Calculator for at least 3 schools on your List – visit each school's website to find the calculator.
- Add to your list 2-3 schools that add depth of financial fit.
Here again are relevant links:
Financial Aid Glossary of Terms
Federal Student Aid Estimator: https://studentaid.gov/aid-estimator/
A reminder: there is a LOT of information on this website: https://clevelandccc.weebly.com/
Another reminder: there is a LOT of information in your gorgeous Green Folders