(written by Val, CCP College Outreach Specialist)

Some of you seniors may have started receiving award letters from colleges.  If you have not, do not fret, many usually arrive in March or even April.  If you have received one or more it is time to start analyzing the type of aid offered.  Schools try to offer both gift aid (the free stuff in the form of grants and scholarships) and self-help aid (the stuff you can do to help yourself such as work-study and Federal Stafford loans).

As you look through your award letters, pick apart the free stuff from the stuff you have to pay back.  Get to the bottom line of what each college will cost you for one year, and then multiply it by however many years you will be in school.  Remember, college is a multi-year investment.

You may not have received as healthy a financial aid package as you would have liked from your dream school.  It is important to begin having conversations now with your family about what is affordable and what kind of lifestyle you want to have in one year, five years and ten plus years.  That knowledge may help you determine a feasible amount of loan debt for you and possibly your family to manage.  You may also want to look closely at the aid packages offered by the second or third school on your list – while the school may not be your “dream” school, the aid they are offering you may be what allows you, and your family, to comfortably dream about your future.

If you have not started already, search and apply for scholarships – www.nh93.com, www.fastweb.com, and www.nhcf.org are all great scholarship sites to become very familiar with.  Also make sure to visit your high school guidance office to see what scholarship opportunities they may know about.  Keep applying!  Many students are able to realize their college dreams through private scholarships.

If you have any questions about award letters or financing, please call us to schedule a Funding Options appointment.  Call us today at 888.7.GRADUATE ext. 119!

Best of luck,
Val