5 financial aid questions to ask prior to paying for college

The challenge of paying for college can overwhelm some parents. Fortunately, college financial aid offices are excellent resources for the personalized advice you’re seeking.

Call a school’s financial aid office after your child is accepted to the college or university and has received their financial aid award package. That way, the financial aid office can use information from the award letter — cost of attendance, your financial situation, financial aid your child is eligible for — to give you the most helpful information possible rather than high-level advice that may or may not apply to you.

Not sure what to ask? Use these questions to help you have the most productive discussion possible:

Your financial aid award letter will list the school’s cost of attendance (COA) for the academic year. The COA includes tuition and fees and room and board, as well estimates for books, transportation, and personal expenses. But that number isn’t necessarily the amount you’ll have to pay for the academic year. That’s just the starting point, before any financial aid is factored in.

Rather than relying on the COA, ask the financial aid office for the cost after all financial assistance that doesn’t need to be repaid is factored in. That includes grants, merit-based scholarships, and work-study.

This adjusted cost will tell you the amount you’ll need to cover using college savings, payment plans, and student loans.

For most families, college is paid for from a number of different types of aid. Ask the financial aid office what unique payment options — if any — their school has that your child might qualify for.

The typical pieces of your paying-for-college puzzle could include:

• Federal grants (ex. Pell Grant)
• College scholarships (merit-based or others your child could apply for)
• Work-study
• College savings (ex. 529 college fund)
• Payment plan (monthly payments made to the school)
• Student loans (federal or private)

The financial aid office will help you make sense of all of these puzzle pieces, focusing on the ones most appropriate for you based on your financial situation and preferences.

The deadline to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) is June 30 of the year your child will be attending school. However, that school might have a much earlier deadline for aid than the federal one; find out the exact date so you don’t miss out!

While deadlines are important to know, it’s highly encouraged that you apply for financial aid as soon as possible. Some financial aid is distributed on a first come, first serve basis. That means colleges have more aid at their disposal when reviewing early applications. Those who apply close to or up to the deadline might be reducing their likelihood of receiving aid since there’s a chance the school will have distributed all the aid it has available for the year.

And while you’re at it, double check to see if there’s an extra application to fill out to apply for financial aid. Most schools will use the FAFSA, but the CSS is required at a lot of schools, too.

Sometimes, parents see how much financial aid their child will receive from a school for the first year and assume that aid will be there every single year.

Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

Some colleges offer significantly more financial aid during your child’s freshman year as a way of luring a student to attend. Then, when sophomore year rolls around, the student and their family realize that all that aid isn’t available anymore, forcing them to find other ways to fill the funding gap. That could mean parents taking on more in their monthly payment plan, using up a bigger portion of their 529 college savings than they expected, or having to take out a larger student loan.

By asking the college’s financial aid office this question, you and your child can best assess how affordable the school is for all four years, not just the first.

Once your child enrolls in school, ask the financial aid office this very important question. The tuition payment deadline has been known to sneak up on parents, which forces them to make rushed, reactionary financial decisions, like which student loan to take out.

Typically, payment for the fall semester is due sometime in August, but you should have the exact date recorded and pretty much memorized. Then, do all your research and planning as far in advance as you can so you’re making the best possible choice, free of any pressure. This is a big decision; don’t wait until the last minute and risk making the wrong choice!

A private Citizens Student Loan could be a better option than a federal loan. Interest rates are determined by creditworthiness, which could mean securing a lower interest rate than your federal loan options. Plus, with Multi-Year Approval¹, you can get the money you need for all of your child’s college years — with one application.

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