An Easier Way to Compare College Financial Aid Awards

An example of the information on the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet.

Shopping for college may have gotten easier.

More than 500 colleges and universities in the country have agreed to standardize their award letters to allow students to compare financial aid packages more easily.

The goal of the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet is to help students make more informed decision on where to attend school by providing a clear way to see the actual cost of a particular school.

In Florida, 27 colleges and universities have signed on from Miami-Dade to Jacksonville.

The Obama administration introduced the Shopping Sheet last summer, and US Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent a letter to college and university presidents asking them to adopt the new award letter by the 2013-14 school year.

On the US Department of Education blog, Secretary Arne Duncan wrote:

I applaud the institutions that have agreed to adopt the Shopping Sheet, and hope more colleges and universities follow their example in offering students and families an easy-to-read award letter that delivers the bottom line on college costs.

You can see the full list of colleges and universities using the standardized financial aid award letter below.

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