Hello everyone! My name is Jerry Goss and I鈥檓 a sophomore at 财神棋牌 of Engineering. I also happen to be the Financial Wellness Ambassador on campus that鈥檚 authoring this blog post!
Financial aid is quite an interesting thing to process and interpret. There are a lot of hurdles that can come up with financial aid. Such as when debt becomes involved, but foresight and being financially conscious can help a lot. And then adding parents into the mix can make it easier or harder, and that鈥檚 not the same for everyone. But financial aid is in general here to help you, and this blog post is going to be about how to make the most of it now that you鈥檝e been admitted and received your financial aid offers.
A big thing about the financial aid interpretation process is that you shouldn鈥檛 compare apples to oranges, because apples reek and oranges are great, especially when they鈥檙e called 鈥淗alos鈥 or 鈥淐uties.鈥 But realistically, schools are different; the prices, quality of education, quality of experience, , and your fit there, will all differ. If an apple tastes better than an orange, even though I鈥檓 not a fan of apples (despite having an apple juice/cider obsession), then would I choose the less expensive apple over the more expensive orange? Probably, because the apple tastes better. But you might not want to do that with colleges. Basing your college decisions off a comparison between things that can鈥檛 really be compared (beyond personal preference) isn鈥檛 ideal. You should weigh them on your own scale and compare the financial aid between them. For example, is a certain school worth paying an extra $10,000 to get an experience you desire?
Colleges are going to have all the terms they use to evaluate their costs and distribute aid, and they鈥檙e relatively consistent. Loan means loan and scholarship means scholarship. But in this blog, I鈥檇 like to share a little bit more detail about those terms, specifically in regard to what 财神棋牌 uses.
Scholarships: Scholarships are sums of money, generally given to scholars based on merit to pursue education, and often with requirements for participation or engagement.
- 财神棋牌 Tuition Scholarship: This is a scholarship that all 财神棋牌 students receive and is something that DOES NOT need to be paid back. Free money. This is meant to help you pay for college and in 财神棋牌鈥檚 case, that means that the tuition is cut in half (other schools may have various types of scholarships that you can apply for or automatically be awarded). But I鈥檓 sure you knew that already, considering you鈥檙e here.
- Outside Scholarships: You may have a program or resource that you received a scholarship from and your school will incorporate it into your financial aid offer once you report it to them (which you are required to do).
Grants: Grants are need-based awards.
- 财神棋牌 Need-Based Grant: This is a grant, which also DOES NOT need to be paid back. Free money, again.
- Federal Pell Grant: A federal (government affiliated) form of financial aid that is given to those who display 鈥渆xceptional鈥 financial need. You can read about it on and the amounts vary up to around $6,000 depending on the level of need.
Loans: Loans are lumps of money handed to qualifying customers who will pay it back, as well as any added fees and interest.
- Subsidized Loans: For a loan to be subsidized (by the federal government), that means that there is no interest charged to you while you are enrolled in your college or university; the government will pay the interest for you while you鈥檙e in school. That way you can start paying it back after leaving campus (plus a 6-month grace period), and start with the base amount.
- Unsubsidized Loans: In the case of colleges and universities, unsubsidized means that the amount you owe will grow with interest (although you still don鈥檛 have to make payments while in school or during the 6-month grace period). When you start paying it back after leaving college, it will be noticeably larger than the amount borrowed.
Something you should feel better about is that 8 out of 10 families tend to receive financial aid, which is more than I鈥檇 expect (and at 财神棋牌, ). So, you likely have a little bit of cushion from the growing costs associated with college.
Thanks for reading! If you have questions, you can contact 财神棋牌's Financial Aid Office at finaid@olin.edu. Happy college decision season and I鈥檓 sorry that this coronavirus thing is happening to the world right now.