subject: Relief from College Expenses with Financial Aid [print this page] A good thing to determine when filling out applications for financial aid is how much aid you will need. Underestimating may leave you coming up short, so it is best to over-estimate when it comes to determining this. A "sticker price" is the price of attendance at a college or university. This "sticker price" is the price determined by a university or college using a guideline provided by the federal department of education. Colleges or universities who have students that are receiving federal financial aid are required to use this guideline.
This price is not actually the price that an institution will cost a student. In order to make the cost of higher education easier to understand, federal law mandates that colleges and that receive federal funds for the purpose of student aid post the net price that it will cost to attend their institution on their Web sites. This law was created in 2010 and all colleges and universities have to adhere to it by October of 2011. Basically this law was put into effect to show the difference of the costs of higher education with and without federal aid. Sometimes, the price of higher education seems too high for someone to actually think they would be able to attend, and they might not even attempt to submit an application or even a FAFSA. With this law, a student will be able to see what a college costs, including room and board and other expenses, and what it will cost with federal aid, scholarships and other aid. This sticker price can help you determine how much money you will need to come up with on your own to pay for your college education. It is often less than you think, and with the help of financial aid and scholarships, a higher education is more tangible than you thought.
