Something I've been wondering....

[conuly]

How, exactly, does financial aid work? Do they just say "this is what you can pay, and we'll pay any amount more than that"? Or do they go "this is how much you get, no more"? Or what, exactly?

Edit: See, even though I fill out my FAFSA every year, I have no idea how it works.

Comments

[stejcruetekie.livejournal.com]

Generally, federal financial aid is a combination - "This is how much you can pay, and we'll pay anything above, up to a point." If I understood correctly, the maximum amount of *federal* aid was something like $3,000-$4,000 (It goes up every year - at least it did until Bush came along... It also goes up the higher your grade - seniors get more aid than freshman). Frankly, $3,000 is next to nothing when you have $20,000+ tuition and housing expenses. The rest comes from you "family contribution," other scholarships and loans, and in my case, credit card (baaaad idea).