The complete guide to a better financial aid offer

Can you improve your financial aid award? Colleges do their best to provide the necessary aid to as many students as they can.  In most cases they are working with limited funds and seeing more and more students applying for aid.  However, with a little extra effort, it may be possible to close the gap between what you can afford, and what the college has asked you to pay.

It may require picking up the phone, and having a frank, open and honest discussion with your admissions officer and financial aid officer.  Or, it may require the submission of a formal appeal.  Either way, this effort could result in significant savings for you. This guide provides you with some easy to follow tips and advice to evaluate your situation and approach the school if you think there’s an opportunity to improve your award.

Does your situation justify another look by the school?

Financial aid administrators have more flexibility than you might think. The college financial aid system is largely formula driven, but financial aid offices also use what is referred to as “Professional Judgment”. This means that financial aid administrators can, depending on their evaluation of your situation, modify your EFC on a case-by-case basis.

Has your financial situation changed? If your financial situation has changed significantly since you completed your application, you should inform the school.  This could involve a loss of income by either you or someone in your family on whom you planned to rely to fund your education.

Do you have a competitive financial aid offer from another school? Colleges want to see the students they accept enroll in the school. If you have a better offer from another school, the other school may try to meet or even exceed the competitive offer.  This especially true if you are a standout student or represent an interest area, region or demographic that is underrepresented at the school.

What if adjusting your award isn’t possible?

If the situations above don’t apply and you still really want to attend a particular institution, your time will probably be better spent figuring out how to make your existing award work, rather than spending time trying to get adjustments made.  Consider the following options for closing the funding gap:

Student loans

While no one likes loans, for many students they are a necessity and if managed correctly, can serve as a smart investment in your future. As a general rule, you can expect that for every $1,000 you need to finance with loans (instead of school grant money) you’ll have the following approximate monthly payments:

• $10 per month for a Stafford loan

• $15 per month for a parent PLUS loan

• $10-$15 per month for a private loan

If you do take out loans, remember you’ll likely need additional loans for each year you’re in school.  Assuming your needs stay the same, multiply any estimates by the number of years you’ll be in school.  Visit SimpleTuition’s Loan Comparison Tool to estimate your monthly payments, compare rates and even apply for loans from leading lenders.

Part-Time Job.

You may consider shouldering more of the cost burden by getting a part-time job, or if you qualify, by taking advantage of the federal work-study program.  Work-study allows you to get a part-time job, usually on-campus and in a department related to your area of study or in the community-service field.  Because these jobs are designed with educational goals in mind, they tend to be very student-friendly and pay at least federal minimum wage. If you didn’t indicate interest in work-study on your FAFSA, you may still be able to get into the program by inquiring with your school.

Who should you speak with when you call the school?

• If you have competitive awards from other schools, ask to speak with the admissions officer. (see more on this below)

• If you do not have other awards to leverage, ask to speak directly with the financial aid officer.

• In all cases, it’s not productive to speak with a secretary or aide.  They typically cannot influence or make a decision in your case and are often known for their ability to say “no” with a particular level of conviction.

What to remember before you pick up the phone

Understand the current economic climate. School endowments are down, college costs are up, and students are applying for financial aid in record numbers.   On one hand, financial aid administrators have been given limited funds to work with, and on the other hand, more families are asking for more support.  The administrators are caught in between, and what makes it so difficult is that there is simply not enough money in the system to satisfy everyone.

Understand your Financial Aid award letter. Most Financial Aid award letters combine a number of different elements to meet your need – scholarships, grants, loans, work-study, etc.  Before calling your school, take a look at SimpleTuition’s Building Blocks of Paying for College to educate yourself about each component of your award. If necessary, prepare a list of follow up questions to ask the school when you call.

Represent yourself well when you call. Financial aid officers are only human. When you contact financial aid professionals, you need to do everything possible to be the best person you can be in order to create a positive bond with that person. If a financial aid officer likes you and understands your compelling situation, they may work just a little harder for you, using their professional judgment to create a better financial aid offer.

Be sure to avoid certain terms and tactics. By-in-large they dislike the term “negotiating” so avoid it in your conversations.  They also tend to dislike when others propose solutions.  Guide them to a solution by asking questions like “What options are available to fill the gap?” rather than stating one up-front.  People are often likely to make an extra effort when the solution is their idea.

What to say when you speak with your financial aid administrator

Explain why you love that particular college. Explain why you love that particular school and what makes it the perfect fit for you.  Be specific.  Your case is much stronger if the administrator hears how much and exactly why you want to attend.  You probably outlined all this as part of your admissions application – you may want to go over it again before you reach out to the school.

Explain why you can’t pay the suggested amount. Again, be sincere and as specific as possible. Administrators can detect sincerity right away, so it pays to be honest here.  Is it because your financial situation has changed since your application or is it because the award is not enough given your financial needs?

Remember to cite any special conditions. For example, if you worked before starting college but understandably cannot work while in college, then you can report a “loss of income.” Similarly, if a parent’s earned income will be less than what was reported for the prior year, you can report a “loss of income” here as well. Under such special conditions, once you are admitted, contact the financial aid office and explain that the income earned in the prior year is largely irrelevant, since it will no longer represent a realistic standard on which to base for your ability to pay for college.

Other examples of special conditions include loss of job, reduction of income, unexpected expenses, natural disasters, separation or divorce, etc.

What to do if you have a competitive offer from another school

Congratulations if you received a better financial aid offer from another college, but tread carefully when using it as a competitive appeal.  In general, competitive appeals are more effective with private institutions.  Start by speaking to your admissions officer rather than your financial aid officer in this case.  It is their job to recruit students for the incoming class and to fulfill specific goals, for example, making sure there are enough incoming freshmen for each major that the school offers.  If you have been accepted to a major that is underrepresented in the incoming class you may have some leverage.  Other factors that may give you an edge for an appeal:

• High standardized test scores (schools like to have high average SAT/ACT scores for their incoming classes since this criteria is used for college rankings).

• Strong high school academic record (again schools like to have a high average GPA for their incoming class since this used for college rankings).

• Holding a class office in high school like class president (schools like to be able to quote statistics like, “Our incoming class includes 29 high school class presidents” as a way to differentiate themselves from their competition.

• Being an athlete for a sport that the school promotes or is interested in promoting (in this case a call to the athletic director or coach may also be helpful).

• Coming from a state, region or high school from which the school doesn’t usually receive applications (schools like to have a diverse student body).  If most of the students at the school come from the East Coast and you are from a region or state that the school is trying to recruit from, you may get a second look.

• Anything that makes you unique or stand out from the other accepted students – extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, leadership roles, etc.  Don’t be shy about telling your admissions rep about how great you are and how perfect their school is for you.

The admissions officer may ask for a copy of your award letter from the other school.  If you have something that makes you stand out from the other accepted students your admissions officer could intercede on your behalf with the financial aid office.  Remember, be clear in your desire to have your first choice school meet or beat another school’s offer, but proceed carefully and politely.

If you are not immediately successful, try these helpful tips:

Send a hand-written note of thanks. If the financial aid administrator does anything that encourages you or that indicates he or she is willing to work with you, take the time to send the person a short, hand-written “thank you” note. Financial aid administrators rarely get these so they will appreciate your thoughtfulness. Eventually, they may even learn to associate your social security number with your personal warmth. In the note, you should chronicle for the record any good news from the financial aid person in the event they forget. It pays to create an audit trail on good news.

Be patient, it may take a while. Often making adjustments can take a long time, sometimes months. But if you are prepared to endure and deal with the associated paperwork and phone calls, you are likely to prevail. In one instance, a student improved his aid award from about $7,500 of loans, to more than $17,000 in grants which did not have to be paid back.

Know when to accept defeat and do so graciously. If everything fails (and sometimes it does), thank the financial aid officer in writing for making the effort on your behalf. Even though you may have lost this battle, you now have a bit more leverage when it comes time to next year’s financial aid offer.  Most colleges don’t want to lose a valued student because of a financial problem. Remember, the percentage of freshmen that eventually graduate from a college is an important quality issue in the popular college-rating publications. Staying enrolled and on track to graduate helps the college improve their rankings.

What’s next?

Whether you’re successful in improving your financial aid award or not, make sure you have the information you need to properly understand the other components of your award, especially any loans that may be required.  SimpleTuition offers free resources that coach you through the paying for college process:

• Understand the Building Blocks of Paying for College
• Search, compare and apply for student loans all in one place
• And more…

Visit us at www.simpletuition.com.