Do you think college financial aid is based upon academic merit and financial need? Most people do, because that is the way that information is marketed AND that is what colleges want you to believe. The reality is that financial aid directly from colleges is NOT based upon academic merit or financial need.
College Financial Aid is based upon what they think families will pay.
There are countless stories of students with a high income family and average grades receiving more financial aid offers than students with a low income family and a great academic profile. They have an algorithm that tells them how much each family is willing to spend in order to attend that college. On average a higher income family is very conscious when it comes to the cost of college while a lower income family is willing to make college work, because the benefit outweighs the cost.
Colleges decide how much to offer based upon an algorithm.
Colleges have a historical idea of how many students will accept the offer to attend and how many will actually attend their college. They have a particular number they need to reach for their own financial goals. If the number of attendance looks less than desirable they will begin to send additional offers to students, under the excuse that there was additional data they have obtained on your application. That additional data is the algorithm telling them how much a person is ideally willing to pay in order to attend. This is not based upon financial need or academic merit
These misleading offers lead to unaffordable loans.
Many times these additional offers lead people to decide to attend a school that may not be a financially sound decision or one that may not be the best option based upon the future career choice. We need to disclaim that not every college operates like this, but how do you know the difference between a good offer and one that is just trying to flatter you into attendance?
College Assistance Plus can navigate you through false offers.
If you want help navigating through the false mirrors we can be your guide. We offer an appeals process to colleges for additional funds, career and college readiness assistance, interview assistance for a great financial aid appeal, SAT assistance, essay writing assistance, and so much more. We know how colleges operate, because we deal with them everyday. Let us save you money, time, headache, and the possibility of being misled. We also feel that it is an amazing article to reference explaining all about how college financial aid is a sham. Check it out here. https://slate.com/business/2022/07/college-financial-aid-sham.html
