Negotiating Financial Aid

May 22, 2006

Think your financial aid award is final? You might be surprised to find that many financial aid offices will negotiate with you to keep you.

Did you apply to more than one college/university? Have you received financial aid awards from all of them? Do you have two that look really promising? Is the offer from your B school not quite as good as the offer from your A school? Then before you go any further, contact the financial aid office at your A school--the school you really want to attend--and see if they're open to negotiation.

Your financial aid award isn't final until you accept the offer formally, and even then, there may be some wiggle room. The point is, colleges/universities want to keep good students. The easiest way to do that is to make certain the student has the funds needed to enroll in their college. Therefore, it really benefits the college/university to at least consider negotiating an award package that is similar to or better than that offered by their competitor.

So,if you're looking at two letters from two different schools, are weighing whether to attend school A or B, and are basing your final decision on your ability to access financial aid funds to pay for your schooling, act now. Call up the financial aid office and try to negotiate an award package that will allow you to attend the school you want to attend.

Until next time! Lynn Byrne

Thoughts? Comments? Send an e-mail to collegeuniversity@suite101.com.