How do I learn how much I will be recieving for my financial aid?

Answer 1

It varies depending on the type of aid, the source of that aid, and the school you attend.

FEDERAL AID:
It is your school's responsibility to determine your eligibility for Federal student aid such as Pell, Stafford, Perkins, SEOG, FWS, ACG, and SMART. Once they do this, they must contact in some documentable way you to tell you what it is. Some schools do this via mail (i.e. post, letter) and want you to "accept" or "reject" their offers before disbursing anything. Other schools employ what is referred to as a "passive" award letter, where they assume you want the aid unless you tell them you don't. Schools do not *have* to send letters -- they might direct you to a website where you can view your aid and complete the requisite forms... The only way to know which method your school uses is to give them a call. Note: if you filed a FAFSA and a few months ago and you still haven't heard from them, you should probably give them a call to see if something is missing in your file.

STATE AID:
Most state financial aid agencies will notify you of your eligibility after you file a FAFSA. However, even in these case, your school almost always have the final say regarding your eligibility (the state agencies rely on Financial Aid to confirm the some additional information that they can't know otherwise). These state awards will probably also appear on your financial aid award letter and you may need to "accept" or "reject" them too.

INSTITUTIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS:
Same as "federal" (above) -- if you are eligible, the school will tell you. In most cases, it will probably be assumed that you will accept this type of aid, so the school may not require you to do much...

PRIVATE SCHOLARSHIPS:
While most schools require you to tell them about any scholarships you get, that is usually the extent of their involvement. (Sometimes the private scholarship org may require the school to complete a form or confirm your enrollment.) Scholarship organizations are often on different "notification" schedules than schools, so it can sometimes be quite a while before you find out if you got their scholarship/fellowship/grant.

Answer 2

Are you talking about Federal Financial Aid or like scholarships and local financial aid? I have been awarded a grant once and it was a state grant not federal. As far as I know in those cases they will mail you something that tells you what you are eligible for and you will check which ones you want to take advantage of and return the form (some of the options can be work studies or loans as well as scholarships and grants - there is a difference). If you won a scholarship the place you won it from should notify you as to how much you have received and when to expect a payment.

So, if you are talking federal and state financial aid, they will contact you via regular mail, and you will have some forms to fill out. They will contact you either way (if you qualify for aid and how much, or if you don't).

Answer 3

Your college's financial aid office will send you a letter stating what has been awarded, or i am able to find out by logging into my college account, and view my aid award on the computer.

Answer 4

They will send a letter telling what you've been awarded. You'll have to sign in saying you accept or decline the award.