Student Aid

Before you accept any student aid, you need to make a worksheet and answer all these questions.

• get a breakdown of the direct expenses (tuition, room, board, and fees) and estimates of indirect expenses (travel, books, etc.) for one year of college

• know the actual net amount (cost of attendance minus financial aid) that you’ll have to pay to attend one year of college

• know what amount of awarded financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid such as scholarships and grants and the conditions under which they are renewable each year

• know the amount of work-study and the conditions under which one has to fulfill the work-study

• find out which loans you’re eligible for

• find out which loans your parents can get to help pay for your education

• know the interest rates, loan terms, monthly repayment amounts, and total repayment amounts of your loans

• know where you can get additional information or have your loan questions answered

Always consider what you’ll have to repay of your student aid.

Repayment of student loans should only be a small percentage of your salary. If you expect to pay more than 15 percent of your annual salary for student loans, you might have difficulty making your monthly payments. Ask your school’s financial aid office for starting salaries of recent graduates in your field of study to get an idea of how much you are likely to earn after you graduate.

You should know the full cost of attendance for the number of years you plan to attend school. This gives you an idea of the total cost of the federal student loans you may be taking out.