Brinda Ambal

College is ridiculously expensive — and it’s only getting worse.

You don’t need me to tell you that college is ridiculously expensive — and it’s only getting worse. In this section, I’ll run through some key terms and concepts regarding the financial side of applying to college.

Net price calculator

Under federal law, colleges are required to post a net price calculator on their website. This calculator allows you to enter your financial information (income, assets, etc.) and receive an estimate for how much you can expect to pay after aid. This estimate includes non-tuition expenses like room and board, but — as a million disclaimers will remind you — it is just an estimate; every year, there are plenty of people whose financial aid offers diverge from the projected amount. Nonetheless, you should definitely utilize the net price calculator when deciding where to apply.

Additionally, you should save a copy of your results in case you need to negotiate a financial aid offer later on. (More about that in a bit.) You should also save all of the financial information you had to dig up for the calculator because the actual financial aid applications will ask for a lot of the same numbers. I won’t lie: this process can be very time consuming and annoying.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

The FAFSA, run through the Department of Education, is a free application that many schools require if you are seeking financial aid. It primarily relies on your tax returns to determine an expected financial contribution (EFC), and you must reapply every year. (Side note: EFC, contrary to its name, is not a very accurate cost predictor. Use the net price calculator instead.) Depending on your financial situation, you may be eligible for need-based aid or various types of federal loans. You can send your FAFSA to up to 10 schools, but there’s a workaround if you’re applying to more than 10: once a school confirms that they’ve received your FAFSA, you can remove them from your list and add another college in their place.

College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile

The CSS Profile is a financial aid application run through the College Board, usually to receive aid directly from a school. Colleges that require the CSS Profile typically ask for it in addition to the FAFSA, and some will have you resubmit both every year. The CSS Profile is more thorough in terms of how much information it asks for, particularly with regards to any assets your family may have. In vintage College Board fashion, it costs $25 to send your CSS Profile to one college and $16 for each additional school. I can’t think of a better metaphor for the current state of college affordability than having to pay to apply for financial aid. (I should note, however, that certain fee waivers do exist.)

Need-aware vs. need-blind

These are two terms that you can’t really control, but might stumble across at some point. Need-aware schools consider your ability to pay when making admissions decisions, while need-blind schools don’t. Granted, there’s controversy about whether or not all need-blind schools truly are need-blind, especially since the information on your Common Application (e.g. your parents’ occupations and level of education) makes it fairly easy to guess a family’s income even without the specific numbers in hand. I’m not going to get into that discussion here; just know that these terms exist and most elite private schools say they’re need-blind for U.S. applicants.

Merit-based scholarships

Merit scholarships are another way to help pay for college. In addition to scholarships from outside organizations/contests — as an aside, you should look far and wide for these; every little bit counts and they’re often easy to apply for — there are three main types of merit scholarships that schools themselves might give out. If you’re eyeing a big scholarship (i.e. half-tuition or more), most of those opportunities will come directly from a school.

• Automatic scholarships (usually based on grades and/or test scores)
• Competitive scholarships that you will be considered for if you apply by a certain date
• Competitive scholarships that require a separate application

Note that scholarship deadlines can differ from the general application deadline, so be sure to carefully read the school’s webpages, reach out with questions and stay organized. One other warning is that you should research the specific policies at each school to understand how scholarships will interact with any need-based aid you receive. For example, if you earn $5,000 in scholarships, some schools will reduce your financial aid package by $5,000.

Loans

I’m not going to pretend to be a financial adviser. For that reason, I don’t feel remotely qualified to give you advice about something as important as navigating the world of student loans. When you crunch the numbers, some loans result in amounts of debt that I don’t think you can truly conceptualize unless you’ve lived through it. I will say that this post is a good starting point to learn more about the differences between, say, a Federal Direct Subsidized Loan and a Parent Direct PLUS Loan. I should also add that just because a financial aid offer includes a loan, that doesn’t mean you have to accept the loan in its entirety or at all.

Negotiating financial aid

If you’re accepted to a school and applied for financial aid, you should receive your financial aid package at the same time or shortly after. If the initial offer isn’t enough, you can try to appeal to get the cost down. This admissions consultant’s guide includes some helpful tips:

“You can reach out to the financial aid office and ask for more money. Sometimes, it works. Often, it doesn’t. But it can’t hurt to try if you’re not finding a way to make it work.

You may want to reach out and negotiate if:

• Your [Net Price Calculator results and/or] FAFSA EFC and family contribution on your award letter are wildly different
• Your family owns a small business, has medical costs, significant debt or other factors that could influence your ability to pay
• Another school you’re considering (especially if it’s a peer [similar level of prestige] institution) has offered you a better package. Sometimes you can say “I’d love to attend, but X school is offering me this, and it’s making it hard for me to make your school work.”
• Your financial circumstances have changed drastically from what’s on your taxes. This year has been difficult. If your parents are working fewer hours, have been furloughed or fired, have had to take on an extra job, faced any sort of salary cuts or have had other changes in economic situations, it’s worth reaching out.

Other general tips: ask for a specific number, provide evidence of your need, share competing award letters, convey your hopes to attend the school and get everything in writing.

Remember, financial aid offices are not machines. They’re made up of real, living, sympathetic human beings. They will understand that your situation probably has more depth than one number on the FAFSA.

That being said, this negotiation tactic will likely not work if your school is known for providing little aid to students like you (like [out-of-state] applicants to the UC system).”