LANSING, Mich. — The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2019-2020 school year has been open since October 1, and so far 36.9% of seniors in our community have completed it. As we near the March 1 priority deadline, students who have completed their FAFSA will begin receiving their financial aid award letters from the colleges that received their FAFSA.
Financial aid award letters lay out what money the college is awarding the student. The financial aid award letter will tell the student specifically how much in scholarships, grants, work study, and loans the student will receive. It should also tell the student what the expected cost of attendance will be, which is how much the student will need for the next year
Scholarships
Colleges will tell the student about some of theneed or merit based scholarships. However, colleges don’t always list all of the scholarships that students receive. Especially if the student receives a scholarship from outside of the school (for example, the Lansing Promise Scholarship). It’s important that students continue looking for scholarships throughout their college years, even after they have received their financial aid award letter. Students can look at the college website for more scholarships, or use websites like FastWeb, Cappex, or community/school based scholarships. Remember, scholarships are free money that the student will not have to pay back.
Grants
Grants can come from the federal government, like the Pell Grant. They can can come from the state government, like the Michigan Tuition Grant. Or they can also come from the college itself. Grants are a form of free money that students will not have to pay back, and they are typically need-based.
Work Study
Work Study is another way for students to help cover costs while at college. Work Study is not applied to the tuition and housing amounts, but is instead meant to help students cover the day to day costs, such as buying essentials, books, transportation, etc. Work Study, typically in on campus jobs, gives students a chance to work while in college. If students are eligible and accept work study on financial aid award letter, they will still need to apply to different jobs on campus. The benefit to work study is that students won’t have to work too many hours and their employer will work around their school schedule. It also gives students a way to meet new people on campus and build their resume.
Loans
When looking at loans on the financial aid award letter, it’s important to understand what the different types of loans mean. If a student is offered a subsidized and/or unsubsidized federal loan, it means students will not have to start repayment until 6 months after the student graduates or leaves school. The difference in these loans is that subsidized loans do not accrue interest while the student is in college (but will begin accruing interest after the student leaves the school), while unsubsidized does accrue interest while the student is in college. Both of these loans are meant for the student to take out. Another common loan to be listed on the financial aid award letter is a parent plus loan. These are loans specifically meant for parents to take out. If parents qualify for the loan and take it out, they will have to make payments on the loan while the student is in college.
Most financial aid award letters will come through the college’s student portal (like the Bannersystem at LCC) or in their email. It’s important that students are checking both of these at least once a week. If after a few months, a student has not received their financial aid award letter, reach out to the school to see if there are any missing documents.
After receiving the financial aid award letter, students will need to go through and manually accept their aid package. Often scholarships and grants will automatically be accepted (but it’s still good to check), but students and parents will have to manually accept or deny loans. It’s important to know that students and parents do not have to take out the full amount of the loans if they don’t need all of them. If the student is unsure of this process, please have them reach out to the financial aid office to help clarify any confusion.
Reviewing the financial aid award letters are an important step in the college-going process. If a student can’t make a decision on what college to attend, they can use this to decide which college will be the most affordable. It is still important to be critical of this document though. In order to attract more first year students, colleges will often offer grants and scholarships that they can only receive during their first year. It’s important when making decisions about colleges, that the student understands that they may not receive the same amount of free money every year, and they will need to continue applying for scholarships and FAFSA every year. If a student feels like that they are not receiving enough financial help from the college, they can submit an appeal at their intended college’s financial aid office. There are many times that financial hardships are not captured on the FAFSA, such as a parent losing a job, change in income, high medical bills, etc. Financial aid offices might be able to help out if students disclose these problems.
