---
name: compare-financial-aid-offers
category: money
description: Compare college financial-aid offers using consistent cost, grant, loan, work, renewal, and uncertainty definitions. Use when choosing between awards or questioning an aid package.
---

# compare-financial-aid-offers

Translate each offer into comparable cash and obligation scenarios. A headline award can mix discounts, debt, work, and conditional funding.

## Procedure

1. Gather the official award, cost-of-attendance components, billing schedule, residency status, and current school policies for the same academic period.
2. Separate grants and scholarships from loans, work-study, family contribution, payment plans, and outside awards.
3. Normalize tuition, mandatory fees, housing, food, books, transport, insurance, personal costs, and one-time charges.
4. Calculate direct billed cost, estimated total cost, gift aid, net price before loans, borrowing, and remaining funding gap.
5. Record loan type, amount, interest, fees, capitalization, repayment terms, and borrower.
6. Check renewal criteria, duration, enrollment load, grade rules, housing assumptions, award displacement, and likely cost increases.
7. Build low, expected, and high four-year scenarios using labeled assumptions.
8. Compare academic fit and nonfinancial constraints separately from affordability.
9. List discrepancies and prepare factual questions or a documented aid-reconsideration request.

## Failure plan

- Do not call loans or work-study discounts.
- Never assume an award renews, costs stay flat, or work-study earnings are guaranteed.
- Verify current terms with the school and authoritative program sources; do not provide individualized legal or financial advice.
- Keep sensitive tax, identity, and account data out of shared comparison files.

## Done

- Every offer is reconciled to the same cost and aid definitions
- One-year and multiyear scenarios are computed with visible assumptions
- Unknown terms and follow-up answers are recorded before a decision