Understanding Your Financial Aid Decision
Financial aid decision letters may look different from college to college. When deciding which financial aid package fits your needs the best, it’s important to consider:
- How much aid is being offered
- What part (if any) is a loan you’ll have to repay
- If it includes non-billed costs like travel and personal expenses
- What your final cost will be after financial aid is applied
Below, you’ll find a guide to better understand your financial aid offers.
How do I compare financial aid offers from different schools?
Look for key terms that mean the same thing across institutions:
- Scholarship, grant, gift, award: funds you don’t have to repay
- Loan, borrowing, financing: funds you must repay
- Parent PLUS, parent loan: funds that the student’s parents must repay
- Student Federal Loan, Direct loan, Federal Direct loan: funds that the student must repay
- Federal Work Study (FWS), FWS Campus Job, Work Aid: estimated earnings from a part-time campus job
When you identify terms with common definitions, you can compare the amounts of different types of aid offered in each decision letter.
What’s the difference between grants, scholarships, and loans?
- Grants and scholarships: funds you don’t have to pay back
- Loans: borrowed funds that must be repaid, usually after you leave college
At Swarthmore, your financial aid decision letter will include only grants, scholarships, and an opportunity to work a part-time campus job; loans are not included. This means that you do not need to repay any of the financial aid that you receive from the College. Learn more about scholarships and grants that may be part of your financial aid decision letter.
If your family chooses, you can still borrow a loan to help cover your part of the cost. Learn more about financing options, including a monthly payment plan, as well as parent and student loans.
What’s the difference between need-based and merit-based aid?
- Need-based aid is based on your family’s financial circumstances.
- Merit-based aid is based on achievements in academic or extracurricular activities.
Swarthmore’s financial aid is need-based and is reviewed each academic year. That means your aid amount could increase or decrease from school year to school year, depending on changes in your family’s finances.
The one merit-based scholarship Swarthmore offers is the McCabe Award, given each year to several first-year students, and is awarded through the Admissions Office
At other colleges, you might see both need-based and merit-based aid either as grants, scholarships, loans, or a mix. Be sure to check if any of it has to be repaid or has requirements for retaining the award.
What about work aid?
Some schools include work study or campus job options in your aid package. This is money you can earn during the school year in a part-time job.
At Swarthmore, if your decision letter includes work aid, the funds earned are meant to cover educational and personal expenses (supplies, travel, etc.). Campus jobs are hourly and paid via direct deposit.
Keep in mind: you won’t have this money at the start of the year, so plan to bring some funds with you. Even if you don’t qualify for financial aid, you are still able to work a campus job, provided you have the authorization to work in the United States.
