Greencastle-Antrim High School
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Comparing Financial Aid Award Letters
What is an 'award letter'?
After submitting your FAFSA, you will begin to receive financial aid award letters from the college(s) that you applied to/indicated on the FAFSA. These typically come out in early to mid-April but the timing will vary depending on when the application deadlines are for those schools. This letter spells out the details of your financial aid package; a financial aid package is a collection of different types of financial aid from multiple sources. It is intended to help you fill the gap between your ability to pay, your expected family contribution, and college costs.
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It's really important that you wait for you financial aid award letter(s) to come in before committing so that you can compare your college options and figure out exactly how much you will be paying and how you will be paying for it.
Important Things to Remember:
Award letters are not bills: You are not required to pay anything shown on these letters. They are just an offer of an estimated cost that the student will pay if they choose to attend the school.
They all look different: Unfortunately there is no standard for how a financial aid award should look or what information should be included on it. As a result, these letters can be confusing and require a bit of decoding or unpacking. Here's an example of one award letter from Elizabethtown College:
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You can choose to accept or deny any part of the document: If you do not want to take out a loan or accept another form of aid that is put into the award letter, you can follow the instructions to accept or deny specific parts of the award letter. For example, you will also be required to login to your student aid account using your FSA ID to accept any federal student loans by completing online entrance counseling and signing a master promissory note.
Need Help Understanding Your Award Letter?
When beginning to compare award letters, you should identify three things: the total gift aid you were offered, the amount of federal student loans you were offered, and the remaining out of pocket cost or "net cost". After you have found that information, follow this follow this equation:
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You can use this award letter comparison tool provided by the Pennsylvania College Advising Corps to calculate your net cost for each school:
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If you have questions about using this excel worksheet or any questions or concerns about your award letters, please do not hesitate to contact the Greencastle Antrim High School college adviser at dcarney@gcasd.org or 717-597-3226 x 10521 .
Cost of Attendance
- Total Financial Aid (Federal & Institutional Aid, Scholarships, Grants, etc.)
Net Cost (Out of Pocket Cost)
Click the icon to download the award letter comparison tool! (Please note: Microsoft Excel is required to run the tool.)