In Their Own Words: Navigating Financial Aid Offers

New America recently hosted a Financial Aid Offerpalooza to rapidly prototype and improve financial aid offer communications. As part of this work, we reached out to students to share their stories about navigating the financial aid process. Along with featuring students in this video, we also interviewed a recent college alumna and asked them to reflect on their experience. Their interview appears below.

Hi, I’m Anneleissa Coen! I graduated from Reed College in 2018 majoring in Sociology. I now work as a Senior Customer Support Technician for NAVEX Global.

Thinking about the financial aid process — finding out what “financial aid” is and how to apply for it, actually filling out the FAFSA, finding out how much aid you will get, all the paperwork — which part of the process stands out in your memory?

I distinctly remember feeling extremely confused by the language used on both the

FAFSA and CSS Profile. It was overwhelming how many tax forms were needed and the unfamiliar terminology they used was confusing. My dad also did not understand these
applications and we had to do lots of Googling to ensure we were filling them correctly.

Even after submitting my applications I still feared I had perhaps done something incorrectly which could prevent me from being able to go to college. I was also disappointed to learn that when a school claims they “meet 100 percent of demonstrated need,” the financial aid package will still typically include loans, even for a student with an Expected Family Contribution [as calculated on the FAFSA] of $0.

How much of a factor was cost when you chose where to go to school?

Cost was the dealbreaker for me. My father always told me growing up that I absolutely had to go to college if I wanted a better life than him, but that the only way I would be able to attend college was if I got a full-ride scholarship. I never knew that I would be eligible for need-based aid until I had participated in Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA), which taught me all about different kinds of financial aid and the financial aid application process. When selecting which college to attend, I considered nothing else except which school offered me the best financial aid package.

Who — if anyone — helped you and your family understand “financial aid” and all it entails?

LEDA, taught me everything I knew before going to college. During the Aspects of Leadership Summer Institute, which I attended before my senior year of high school, LEDA provided individual counseling and intensive workshops to ensure that LEDA Scholars would be prepared to apply for financial aid, understand their financial aid letters, compare financial aid packages, and appeal them if needed. My high school attempted to help students and their families as well, but the information they provided was surface-level. It was targeted towards students who were expected to attend either community college or the local state school. We were also taught very little about federal financial aid and need-based aid and instead encouraged to apply for merit-based scholarships to fund our college education.

How did the school first communicate with you about how much you would have to pay? From what you remember, what were your first reactions when you found out how much going to school would cost and how much you would have to pay?

The first financial aid communication I received was via email, telling me to login to a portal to view my award letter. I was an anxious mess, especially because this award letter was for one of the colleges I was most interested in attending. I logged into the portal silently while waiting at a bus stop. I was initially ecstatic to see the total amount of financial aid they offered me. As I read the breakdown of my financial aid award by grants, loans, and federal work study, I was disappointed to realize that approximately $20,000 of my financial aid award was loans. I previously thought that if a school said it met “100 percent of demonstrated need,” then it would not require a student to take out loans, but would offer a financial aid package with only grants.

What do you remember about the “financial aid award letters” you’ve gotten? In the end, was it easy or difficult to figure out what you would get in financial aid and the bottom line — how much you would have to pay?

Financial aid award letters are unbelievably confusing. There is no standardization of language or categorization of aid across across award letters and there are no definitions provided for the different types of financial aid listed. Students are expected to figure it out for themselves. Some of my letters listed the total estimated cost of attendance, whereas others did not. For the letters that did not, I had to go to that college’s website and find the cost of attendance. Some colleges include personal expenses (such as travel, books, and school supplies) in their cost of attendance while others do not.

If you received multiple financial aid offers because you were accepted to multiple schools, how easy or hard was it to compare the different financial aid offers you got? If you put the letters next to one another, would it have been easy to see what the differences were?

It was difficult to compare letters. Each financial aid letter looked a little different. Some explicitly listed cost of attendance, while others did not. Some listed total financial aid for the full academic year, while others broke down my financial aid by each semester. It was super difficult to compare my financial aid letters. I spent a significant amount of time analyzing each one carefully, jotting down notes, and making careful calculations. Despite trying my best to be informed about my financial aid package, I still encountered unpleasant surprises in college.

When I moved off campus, my package changed substantially. In order to afford college, I had to live in a 4-bedroom house with seven people, work 20 hours a week, receive full food stamps, and use my college’s community food pantry. I later found out that my institution had not adjusted its financial aid based off my city’s estimated standard cost of living. It wasn’t until my senior year that financial aid accounted for the current cost of living in my city. I also had to meet with my college’s federal work study staff member multiple times to properly understand how federal work study was related to my financial aid package.

Right now, Congress is trying to improve the ways in which colleges and universities communicate financial aid packages. One idea that several Congress members are interested in is to have every college and university use the same offer so that every financial aid award package you receive is comparable and looks the same with a listed price, has grants separated from loans, and gives you more information. Would this have been helpful? How so? If no, what would have helped you?

Having standardized financial aid award letters would have been incredibly helpful to me. Financial aid letters should be transparent, straightforward, clear, and easily comparable. It should be easy for a student to determine how much they would have to pay for any given college, what the out of pocket expenses are, what kinds of aid are being offered, the total aid offered and which offer is best. It would have been helpful if the letters included short definitions of key terminology and the different types of aid. I vividly remember needing to Google “subsidized vs. unsubsidized loan” numerous times to remind myself which was which.

What advice would you give to a high school student today about how to make the most informed decision about financial aid and paying for school after high school? Would you do things differently or the same?

I would strongly encourage a high school student to do as much research as possible on the different types of financial aid that exist. If they are a fairly high-achieving student, I would let them know that many private and selective institutions offer fantastic need-based financial aid which can sometimes make these schools even more affordable than public institutions. I was offered better financial aid from the private liberal arts college I attended than from my local state school, because my institution had additional scholarships available for low-income students, outside of federal and state aid. I know this option isn’t available to everyone, so I would also highlight that many non-profit public institutions can be affordable and community colleges can be a great option.

Since everyone comes from different backgrounds and circumstances, there is not
necessarily a linear path to finding the most affordable college. High school students should meet with their high school counselors, talk to their families about their financial situations, do as much research as possible about the different types of financial aid, apply to multiple schools, and carefully consider what their personal priorities are. Current college students or recent graduates can also be helpful to talk to through the process.

Many thanks to LEDA Scholars for providing the student voices for the videos and this interview.