Deciphering Financial Aid award letters can be tricky! Read on for help!

A financial aid award letter is a breakdown of money/financial aid. 

After filing your FAFSA, you will receive a financial aid award letter from EVERY single school you've 1. Been accepted too and 2. Listed on your FAFSA.

Each financial aid award letter will contain the following:

1. Any scholarships you were awarded from the university and the amount

2. Student loans (as a Freshman you automatically qualify for $5,500 in loans. You do NOT have to accept these. But it's offered to every student)

3. Any grants you were awarded from the university, from the State of Michigan and any federal grants (such as the Pell Grant)

4. Work Study if you selected "yes" to being considered for work study on your FAFSA. This amount varies from student to student, from university to university

You will also see...

1. The cost of attendance (COA) for each university

2. Your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC), this is the amount, as determined by the income you input into your FAFSA, that your family can contribute toward your education. Don't worry, your family doesn't ACTUALLY have to pay this, most students seek out additional scholarships/ grants to try to cover this cost, if any.

3. The "out of pocket" remainder the student pay after all scholarships, loans, grants, and work study

Here are examples of actual past student's award letters! ---->