When students are unprepared for the financial decisions of college, unforeseen problems get in the way.
The affordability of college varies enormously, but there are no easy ways for students to differentiate between affordable quality colleges versus expensive schools with poor outcomes.
However these documents are so confusing that students commonly misinterpret them or don’t use them when deciding where to attend. Not being prepared to cover the cost of college is a major cause of dropout and a leading cause of unnecessary student debt.
are used in Award Letters to describe federal loans
include grants, but don’t include college costs to compare against
of award letters differentiate between aid & loans, making it difficult to know what families actually need to pay.
Out of 100 low-income high school graduates, only 16 will complete a bachelors degree in 6 years.
The Pell Institute
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