Negotiating Your Way To A Better Award Package

Okay, so you have the award letters in hand from the different schools and are ready to accept one of them.

Not so fast!

First, there are some things that you MUST do if you are not sure the package is as good as it should be. Even if you are not sure, isn't it worth a little time and effort to go through the award and try to get a little better offer, even if it is only a couple thousand dollars?

Hopefully you started thinking about this when you filled out your FAFSA form. There is a spot on the form where you can list the schools that you want the report sent to for possible acceptance at their school. What I would reccommend is on that form, list two or three schools that you are considering, even if you know there is only one that you would want to attend. Pick competing schools to list because when you get the Student Aid Report you can compare and when the reports go out and schools see that they may be competing with another school, they may be more willing to give favorable awards. Also, when you are ready to negotiate you can compare offers and have a stronger foothold to state your claims.

Here are some steps to follow in negotiating:

1. Try and figure out where you stand in the eyes of the FAO's. In other words, a good rule of thumb is if you are in the top 25% of applicants (which is hard to determine, but possible) then you stand a good chance at getting favorable offers. You can look on the schools website and find what the average scores on ACT/SAT and averages GPA's are of all incoming applicants and if you are higher than the average, that is a good thing.
2. Prepare your claim - before you call or write. If you received a better offer from a comperable school, have that in front of you and be prepared to send the information in as proof. They may even require to see it, so don't lie about this - it just makes you look stupid.
3. Explain your financial circumstances. If you feel like the school doesn't fully understand your situation, explain it. Aid is awarded on previous years income and if you had an unusually good year last year and made more money then is normal, explain that to them. If you have a high debt to income ratio, explain that. If you have become divorced, widowed or seperated since the form was filled out, explain that also.
4. If you live within driving distance of the school, go see them. If not, your best bet is the telephone. Avoid sending letters too much because they are easily set aside and ignored. When you do call, be cordial and frank. Don't start yelling and screaming. Try to speak to the dead FAO. Make sure you write down all names of everyone you talk to and the date and time that you talked.
5. Have a figure in your head of what you think would be fair. Don't go overboard, but be reasonable because if the FAO ask what you can afford, you do not want to say "I don't know" or be undecisive. Have a clear number in your head.
6. Be reasonable and avoid arguing or any other confrontational language. Avoid the words like "bargain" or "negotiate".
7. Ask for extensions in deadlines if applicable.
8. The parents should do the negotiating, not students. It just hold more credibility to the conversation.

Remember, it never hurts to ask. The worst that comes out of the conversation is that they may say "no". They cannot take back any awards or offers that they have given to you up until now.