April 14, 2024

Admission and Financial Aid Offers: Next Steps

Hello Reader,

April is well underway and spring is in full swing. In the college admission cycle, early spring is also the time when college admission and financial aid offers come in. You may have seen this in the news in recent days. And if you or anyone in your family applied, then you may have gotten responses as well. I hope they were acceptances and some generous financial aid offers.

However the late rollout of the new FAFSA form is causing delays in federal financial aid offers and many students are still waiting to know their financial aid offers. Additionally, many colleges have reported receiving inaccurate FAFSA information for students. This has caused stress for many prospective college students and their families.

If you are in this situation, the best thing is not to panic. Some colleges have taken it upon themselves to estimate financial aid offers even though they have not received FAFSA information for students. Others may inevitably have to move the May 1 decision deadline for students to respond with their decision on whether or not they are accepting the admission offer.

Here are other things you can do if you are in this situation and have still not heard from all your schools about financial aid:

1. Contact your school and ask if they plan on extending the May 1 college acceptance decision deadline. Some schools have already extended the deadline to May 15.
2. If your school(s) used an estimated calculation to award you financial aid without receiving FAFSA information from the Department of Education and you believe you should receive more aid than you were awarded, contact the school to ask about a review.
3. If you are in a position where you have to make a decision before you hear about federal financial aid, remember that the highest grant amount any student will get this year from the federal government is $7,400, which includes the Pell Grant for low income students. Any additional aid will be in the form of work study and loans.

To alleviate the stress that many are feeling at this time, I will be hosting our CFF Admission Offer Evaluation Workshop on Saturday April 20 at 3pm ET ( Convert to your local time zone here ). In this workshop you will learn:

• What factors to consider when evaluating admission offers.
• How to calculate your true college costs.
• How to understand the sometimes confusing terms on financial aid offers.
• How to evaluate financial aid offers.
• What to do if your financial aid package is inadequate.
• How to avoid the pitfalls of unfavorable loan terms.
• You will receive a spreadsheet tool to compare all your offers to arrive at the college choice that makes the most financial sense, which you can then pair with your values to arrive at a decision.

Come with your offers and more importantly with your questions. After the workshop you will be fully prepared for National Decision Day on when prospective first-year college students are supposed to respond to their admission offers -- whether that is on May 1, May 15 or any other date this year.

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Finally, if you are or have a high school junior and will be applying later this fall to college, remember that the early-bird registration deadline for the College Fully Funded Program starting in Summer 2024 is April 26. Early registration comes with a $200 discount. Find registration details here.

I hope you have a great spring week ahead. Please make time to be outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather.

To college fully funded,

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Dr. Faith Okpotor

Founder and CEO, National Center for Higher Education Access

Award-winning academic and tenured professor

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