May 1st will soon be here!!!

For those of you who will be attending college for the first time in Fall 2009, right about now is the time when you are receiving the financial aid award notifications. These award notifications will specify the types and amounts of awards that you could receive at that particular institution. But how do you make sense of all of that information? You want to make sure you are comparing "apples to apples".

NASFAA (National Association of Financial Aid Administrators) provides tools to help students and their families analyze the award notifications that they receive in order to make choices and financial decsions regarding college costs.

The first is a cost of attendance worksheet that allows families to look at the schools to which the student has applied and compare the costs based on various components. See that worksheet by clicking here.

The next tool is a sheet that allows the family to analyze each of the financial aid award packages according to they type of aid received and the conditions associated with that type of aid. It allows for the comparison of loan rates and renewability of scholarships. See that worksheet by clicking here.

Both of these are excellent for seeing the whole picture and allows the family to look at the numbers clearly in the hopes of making decisions that are good for everyone.