(written by Val, College Outreach Specialist at the Center for College Planning)

With high school juniors beginning to research college choices and seniors starting to receive their financial aid award letters, we here at the Center for College Planning have been receiving many questions about colleges that may offer full-need to their students.   For those of you who may not be familiar with this term, full-need basically means that the college is agreeing to meet the difference between what they think the family can afford for one year of college and what the actual cost of the college is.  While there is no one way that all colleges review or meet need, I did find an article that explains full-need a little more and lists colleges that claim to meet it.  Keep in mind, that while colleges would love to meet each of their student’s financial need,  meaning the student might not have to take any loans/come up with their own funds to help pay, many are not able to do so.  Some colleges may be able to offer you more financial assistance than other ones.  Colleges give prospective students their best offers of aid up front, and based on those numbers, students and families should discuss which the best option for them is based on the numbers as well as the academics.

What is important to understand as you look at colleges or review your award letters is that every college may view financial need very differently.   It's true every student needs to file their FAFSA form every year.  That form provides the student with his or her EFC or Expected Family Contribution for the upcoming academic year.  Full-need schools usually require additional financial information by completing the CSS Profile application administered by CollegeBoard or another supplemental financial aid form that the college provides.  In order to be eligible for the maximum amount of aid, students need to complete all financial forms required by the college.  This additional information can change the EFC when determining institutional aid– meaning money that the school can provide out of their own resources, not federal aid– money that the government may be able to offer to help pay for college.  Oftentimes the student’s institutional EFC is higher than the federal EFC.

To view the full article, click here.

If you have any questions about a specific college’s full-need policy, please contact their Financial Aid Office.  And as always, if you have any questions about your award letters, ways to meet the cost of college, or any other questions that you may have, please do not hesitate to contact us at 888.7.GRADUATE ext. 119.

Until next time,
Val