Welcome back to the 5 Pillars of College Planning. We now shift our focus to the final Pillar — Making Your College Decision.

By now, you have reviewed the scholarship and loan options associated with all the schools where your student has been accepted. Now it’s time to do an apples-to-apples comparison of each to determine your family’s actual out-of-pocket costs.

Read more of the Pillars of College Planning: 

• Pillar #1 - The College Savings Process
• Pillar #2 - The College Search Process
• Pillar #3 - The College Application Process
• Pillar #4 - Navigating College Scholarships and Loans

When it comes to “aid,” it is essential to understand any conditions you must meet to stay eligible for aid, and whether these scholarships and grants are available during all four years or only during the first year of post-secondary education. Knowing this information ahead of time can save you and your family a lot of time and possible frustration at the end of your student’s first year.

Hopefully, you’ve been proactive and contacted your student’s admissions advisor during the application process. Do NOT be afraid to contact the college or university for clarification or to appeal their financial award decision.

Financial Award Appeal

Once you and your student have narrowed your list of top schools to a select group of two or three, and you’ve done a comparison of financial aid offers, consider contacting the school(s) to see if they will allow you to appeal the financial award decision.

Some reasons why students and families may want to appeal include:

• The FAFSA is based on assets or income sources that are no longer relevant.
• The school(s) under final consideration are competing with each other. As a Minnesota resident, a typical example would be if your student has applied and been accepted to St. John’s University and the University of St. Thomas. Each school is a well-known Private Liberal Arts college that attracts students with similar academic, economic and cultural backgrounds. Consider contacting each school to see if they’re willing to offer more aid, given the competitive nature of attracting their “ideal student(s).”

Decision Day – May 1

College Decision Day occurs annually on May 1. This is the deadline for high school students to commit to the college they plan on attending in the fall. Don’t let this deadline slip past, as many colleges and universities may pull their acceptance and financial awards after this date.

Along with making your official commitment, most schools require the student to submit a non-refundable deposit at this time.

Accept or Decline Financial Aid

Your student must accept or decline their Financial Aid offer through the College or University’s web portal. If accepted, loans will be applied toward the upcoming year’s tuition, along with any scholarships or merit-based awards received.

You and your student will make the Financial Aid decision each year, as the FAFSA application is required to be filled out every year (starting in October).

Make the Commitment and Know It’s Not Permanent

Like anything else in life, circumstances change from year to year and person to person. Many high school students are terrified when making their college decision because of the immense pressure they feel.

It’s important to remember that this decision does not have to be permanent. Students transfer schools for a variety of reasons, including family obligations, a change in academic program or major, a need to be closer to home, or to find a better fit. Whatever the reason, if your student changes his/her mind and decides a change is necessary, there are numerous options to make a change — whether that be at the semester break or at year-end.

Trust in the process you’ve followed to this point! You and your student have done all the hard work, and an exciting college experience awaits.