FAFSA and Financial Aid, Explained Plainly
The FAFSA step by step, how to read an award letter, questions for the aid office and a side-by-side offer comparison. Not financial advice.
In Under $15
By Whole Life HQ4 parts · about 4,300 words · printable · read online
Open your copy
You own this. Everything opens straight from here.
Open4 printable pages, in reading order
Who it's for
US students and parents who are filling in the FAFSA for the first time and want award letters explained in plain words.
What you receive
- The FAFSA step by step, with a document checklist
- How to read an award letter, with a filled-in example
- Twelve questions for the financial aid office and a review request script
- A side-by-side offer comparison page and a plain guide to loans
4 printable pages, in reading order
- Part 1: Start here
- Part 2: The FAFSA, step by step
- Part 3: Reading your award letter
- Part 4: Compare offers and borrow carefully
See inside
The first 4 pages, as they print.
Look inside
The first page, word for word. 4 printable pages in total.
Part 1: Start here
Paying for college in the United States is confusing because the words are confusing. "Aid," "award," "package," "subsidized," "net price" and "cost of attendance" all sound alike, and the people who use them every day forget that everyone else is new. This guide uses plain words, shows filled-in examples and gives you questions to ask. It is for students who are applying for aid, and for parents and guardians who are helping.
What this guide is and is not
It explains how the process generally works and how to read what you are sent. It is not financial or legal advice, and it does not promise that you will get any amount of aid. Rules, forms, limits and interest rates change from year to year. Every number in this guide is a made-up example unless it says otherwise. For current rules, use studentaid.gov, the school's financial aid office and your school counselor. They are free, and they are the source that counts.
Where the money comes from
There are only four kinds of money for college. Everything else is one of these.
What is in each part
- Start here
- The FAFSA, step by step
- Reading your award letter
- Compare offers and borrow carefully
What buyers say
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Downloads included
4 printable pages: see the list
- Part 1: Start here
- Part 2: The FAFSA, step by step
- Part 3: Reading your award letter
- Part 4: Compare offers and borrow carefully
They open in your library, and you can print them, once they are yours.
Who wrote it
Written by the Whole Life HQ team.
Not yet reviewed by an outside expert.
We plan to ask a finance educator to review it. Until then it is general information, not professional advice.
General information, not professional advice.
How you get it
- In your libraryAfter you pay, it is in your library straight away.
- Any devicePhone, tablet or computer. Print it if you like paper.
- Yours to keepIt stays in your account, and you can come back any time.
