The order aid is usually layered in
Most packages are built in a sequence rather than from one source. Aid that does not have to be repaid tends to be applied first, then work-study if it is offered, then federal loans, and only then anything private. Knowing the order matters because it is where an offer's shape comes from: two schools can list similar totals and differ entirely in how much of it is borrowed.
When you read an offer, separate the lines into repaid and not repaid before you compare anything. The school's financial aid office will confirm which is which, and that is a reasonable thing to ask them to put in writing.
Federal, state, school and private: four different landlords
These four sources have different rules, different deadlines and different people answering the phone. Federal aid is governed by one set of rules nationally. State programmes vary enormously and often have earlier deadlines. School aid is decided by the institution and can include awards it does not advertise. Private sources are everything else.
Confusing them is the most common cause of a missed deadline, because people assume the federal date is the only one. It is usually the latest of the four.
Why the same student gets different offers
An aid offer is calculated against a particular school's cost of attendance, not against a national figure. A more expensive school can produce a larger offer and still leave you further out of pocket, because the gap between cost and aid is what you actually have to cover.
Compare the gap, not the headline. Subtract the aid that does not have to be repaid from each school's own published cost of attendance, and compare what is left.
What changes between one year and the next
Aid is not set once at the start of a programme. Most of it has to be applied for again for each academic year, and a change in household circumstances is a reason to tell the aid office rather than to assume the figures carry over.
Schools have a process for reviewing a changed situation. It has different names in different places, and asking the aid office what theirs is called is the fastest way to find it.
The other topics
studentaid.gov outranks this page. Figures, dates and rules change
between academic years. These articles are written to help you read that site and
your school's aid pages, not to stand in front of them.
Start there.
Nothing here is a determination. We cannot tell you what you qualify
for, and no website can. The programme and your school's financial aid office decide
that, after you apply.
