Tool
Financial Aid Award Letter Analyzer
Paste up to four aid offers. Get standardized net price, gift-aid percentage, loan burden, and a four-year cost projection — all on the same basis, so an apples-to-apples comparison takes minutes instead of an evening with a spreadsheet. Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is saved or transmitted.
Enter each offer
Every U.S. college that participates in federal student aid is required to publish your aid offer in standardized line items. Find the dollar amounts for cost of attendance, grants, scholarships, federal loans (subsidized + unsubsidized), and work-study, and enter them below.
Standardized comparison (2 of 4 offers filled)
Net price uses federal methodology: COA minus grants and scholarships only. Loans are not subtracted.
| Metric | School A | School B | Offer 3 | Offer 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cost of attendance (year 1) | $38,000 | $62,000 | — | — |
Grants + scholarships (gift aid) | $16,000 | $37,000 | — | — |
Net price (year 1) | $22,000 | $25,000 | — | — |
Gift aid as % of total aid | 67% | 81% | — | — |
Federal loans (year 1) | $5,500 | $5,500 | — | — |
Work-study (year 1) | $2,500 | $3,000 | — | — |
Illustrative 4-yr loan burden If you take all federal loans every year. | $22,000 | $22,000 | — | — |
4-year net price projection With 4% annual tuition inflation. | $93,422 | $106,162 | — | — |
How to read your offers
- Cost of attendance (COA)is the all-in price the school estimates for one year — tuition, fees, room and board, books, transportation, and personal expenses. Look for “Total cost of attendance” or “Estimated annual cost.”
- Grants and scholarships are gift aid you do not have to repay. Federal Pell grants, state grants, and institutional grants all count here.
- Federal loans include both subsidized and unsubsidized federal direct loans. PLUS loans taken out by parents are sometimes listed in the same area; treat those as additional cost, not aid.
- Work-study is money you can earn working a campus job, capped at the listed amount. It shows up as a job, not a deposit — so it reduces what you have to pay only if you actually work.
- Private loansfrom non-federal lenders are usually NOT listed in the standardized offer and should not be confused with federal direct loans. Do not let a school inflate the “aid” number with private loans you have not yet accepted.
Next steps
Net price estimator
Estimate year-one cost before you have a real offer in hand.
College cost comparison guide
How tuition, fees, COA, and net price actually relate.
Compare pinned schools
Side-by-side comparison of up to four schools on cost + fit.
Tuition vs total cost of attendance
The vocabulary the offer letter uses.
How to compare financial aid offers
Reduce every offer to net price before you decide.
Net price vs sticker price
Why net price is the number that matters.