Determining need

As you think about what type of college or university might be right for you and your career path, it’s also smart to consider how you’ll pay for it.

The total cost of attending college includes tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board (if you plan to live away from home), transportation to and from school — and an occasional night out.

The bottom line? Chances are you’ll need financial aid. As the cost of education has continued to rise, more students must rely on some form of financial aid to achieve their educational goals. Studies show that two out of three college students use at least some financial aid.

Many student loans and other forms of financial aid such as grants and scholarships are based on need — that is, how much help you and your parents (if they’re still supporting you) need to pay for your education. Some kinds, however, are based on merit, or your specific achievements or talents.

In order to figure out how much need-based financial aid you’ll get, you and your parents (unless you’re financially independent of your parents) must fill out a rather long form called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as the FAFSA. You can find the FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov, or you can get a paper form from your guidance counselor’s office.

Be prepared: Filling out the FAFSA may feel like your absolute worst adventure in paperwork, ever. The form requires very specific information about your income, your parents’ income, and both your savings and assets. The government uses this information to figure out how much money it expects your family to pay toward your education, called the expected family contribution, or EFC. That’s because even though the government wants to help people attend college, it expects families to pay for expenses as much as possible. Usually, the difference between your family’s EFC and your total college costs is the financial aid you’re eligible for.

Your high school guidance counselor will tell you about important deadlines to file your FAFSA, but this is much too important a step to leave solely to others. Make sure that you are aware of the deadlines and that you allow yourself enough time to fully complete the paperwork and ensure that the application is received well in advance of the deadlines. You generally want to file between January and March of the year in which you expect to start college. It’s very important to meet FAFSA deadlines, because if you file your form late, you might not get all the financial aid you’d otherwise be qualified to receive. The pool of available financial aid is limited — and people who wait to search for it may come up emptyhanded.

A few months after you file a FAFSA, colleges or universities that have accepted you for admission will present you with an aid package, usually in the form of an award letter. Your package may differ from college to college, so you’ll want to compare packages as you decide where to go to school.

A financial aid package could include a mix of various types of financial assistance, such as student loans, scholarships, grants, work-study programs, and aid directly from school funds and campus-based programs.