Should You Apply for College Financial Aid?

This is a question many families ask. It’s also a question that many families don’t know they can ask. It’s widely believed that you NEED to apply for college financial aid, at least as an incoming student. Let’s discuss why that isn’t necessarily the case and how you can determine if you will benefit from completing the college financial aid process.

Video: Should You Apply for College Financial Aid? >>

Let’s get a few things clear:

• I’m referring to need-based financial aid through the financial aid office.

• There generally isn’t a downside to applying for financial aid. You usually aren't going to hurt yourself by submitting the forms.

But you may not benefit from submitting the forms either! And, if possible, wouldn’t you want to know that you aren’t likely to gain benefit from spending hours working on financial aid documents?

For most people, the answer to that question is a resounding YES!

So, instead of immediately jumping into the college financial aid application process, I tell families the first step is determining if you need to fill out financial aid forms.

You can use a free tool like the Net Price Calculator to determine if you are going to qualify for need-based financial aid. If you input the required information and find you are not qualifying for aid, there’s likely little benefit in completing the need-based financial aid application process, specifically the CSS Profile.

Takeaway

• Not everyone will benefit from applying for financial aid. Use the Net Price Calculator to determine if you should complete the forms.

If you won’t benefit from applying for need-based aid, you can spend that newly-acquired time focusing on merit-based scholarships and negotiating for additional aid to maximize your award.