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The financial aid process can be confusing. Below is some information that may help you get a better understanding of the different types of financial aid out there and the many different packages it can come in.
Forms of Financial Aid
The Financial Aid Package
Student Loan Financial CalculatorFinancial assistance is given to you and your family in a "package" that may consist of grants, loans, and campus employment and will likely include a combination of need-based and non-need-based resources.
- Grant Aid - Comes in four (4) forms: from the colleges directly, from federal funds, from state funds, and from private sources. You may receive grant aid from one or all four sources. Grant aid is not expected to be repaid and is not necessarily a small amount, either. Most of Ohio's independent colleges offer scholarships for academic excellence. They also offer a variety of other scholarships based on athletic proficiency, artistic ability, or capability to contribute to the community in some unique way.
- Loans - Come from a variety of sources: federal and state governments, the colleges, and banks. Most interest-subsidized student loans will require repayment 6 - 9 months after leaving school. Packages identify loans that you or your parents may borrow for educational costs. However, you are not required to borrow funds.
- Work Study or Campus Job - Consists of money paid to students directly as wages for a job on campus. You will need to work out how these funds will be handled to pay the bill.
To understand how a financial aid package is developed, families have to know the answers to the following questions. The answers will vary slightly from college to college.
- What are the assumptions underlying the student's budget? Does the college expect you to earn resources in the summer? Are there any exceptions for unpaid internships, athletic camps, travel? How reasonable is the work study expectation - 12 hours a week, 20 hours a week? What about the allowances for books and travel back and forth to college; incidental expenses; other fees, such as parking, medical insurance? Does the college base its financial package on what it actually costs to attend the college or the amount of the billed charges?
- Is the college "need" blind, or does financial assistance recognize individual contribution? A strong "need" blind (the admissions decision and financial assistance are not linked) policy may mean that lower income families are supported more generously than middle income families.
- What is the school's policy toward outside scholarships? In the event that you win a scholarship from a private organization, how does the college adjust that amount from its financial offer to the family?
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