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A financial aid appeal letter is a way to present your case for more financial aid from a college. It should explain why you need additional funds, including details about your current financial situation and documents that back up your argument. While it’s not guaranteed to work, a convincing enough letter could get you more grants and scholarships, reducing the amount of student loans you need to take out.
While each school has a different procedure for appealing a financial aid award, you generally need to follow these steps:
The first step is to get in touch with the school’s financial aid office to ask what the process is for appealing your financial aid award. Try reaching out by email rather than over the phone — you’re more likely to get a faster response, typically within a few days.
Simply saying you need more aid isn’t a very strong case. Go over your family’s finances to figure out how much more you need to be able to afford the degree. If you think the FAFSA calculations are off — your situation has changed or you made a mistake — you can use the FAFSA forecaster to figure out how much you would receive based on your new circumstances.
Why exactly do you think you need more financial aid than you were offered? Write out your answer in a few concise sentences that make a compelling case — this might take a few drafts. The more direct you are, the better.
Strengthen your argument with copies of documents that support your case. This might include financial aid award letters from other schools, bank statements, medical bills or anything else that might support your case for more aid.
Follow the school’s instructions to type a one-page letter making your case for more financial aid — think the same length as your college essay. Write it in a standard business format with your address, the date and the financial aid office’s address at the top of the page. Be sure to address it to a specific person in the school’s financial aid office.
Not sure how to get started? Follow this structure:
Some schools might require you to submit a form along with your letter. Go over it with your parents to make sure all of the information you provide is correct.
Get a friend, teacher or relative to read over your letter. A second pair of eyes can help catch misspelled words or grammatical errors that could make you sound unprofessional. It also gives you a chance to ensure you’re making a strong case. Consider your proofreader’s suggestions if you think they could strengthen your letter.
Follow the school’s instructions to mail in or otherwise submit the financial aid appeal letter. If you don’t hear back from the financial aid office within a few weeks, reach out to make sure they received it.
Not everyone can get their financial aid award appealed. You might have the best luck in the following circumstances:
Life happens. If your family has gone through changes that have impacted your ability to pay for college since filling out the FAFSA, the school might be willing to adjust its award. This might include the death or illness of a family member, loss of income or divorce.
Are you a caretaker, have a disability or have other circumstances that the school didn’t include in your cost of attendance (COA)? You might be able to adjust your COA and therefore your financial aid award.
You can use a more competitive financial aid award letter from a different school to make the case that you deserve more funding. Be clear that the school you’re writing to is your top choice.
You can usually make corrections to the FAFSA after you’ve submitted it. But reaching out to the school to let them know might convince them to adjust your in-school scholarships and grants as well.
A school likely won’t approve an appeal if you’d just like more scholarships and grants than it originally offered but don’t have much of an argument for why you need it. You also might have a hard time getting approved if you need a lot more aid — think $10,000 or more. In these cases, you might want to consider other options for funding your degree — or even going to a different school altogether.
Not sure if it’s a good idea? Look up the school on the CollegeBoard’s College Search tool to find out what the average financial aid package is for first-year students and what factors it considers when coming up with your offer. If your package seems similar to what other students receive, you might want to hold off.
Consider these pointers when writing your appeal letter for more financial aid:
You still have options to pay for school, even if your financial aid award isn’t as generous as you would have liked. You might want to consider these alternatives before turning to federal or private student loans:
You don’t need to write off your dream school if your financial aid award isn’t enough. Writing an appeal to the school’s financial aid office could help you qualify for additional funds. Stick to the numbers and keep it short to increase your likelihood of being approved.
You can learn more about how to pay for college by reading our guide to student loans.
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