Financial Aid Appeal Letter Best Practices & Template
Let The FAFSA Guru guide you in writing an appeal letter.
In this short course with a step by step appeal letter template, I will teach you, step-by-step, how to write an effective financial aid appeal using a specific strategy that could help you get additional aid in the form of FREE money, not loans. Don’t have time to take the 40 minute course? Just use the template provided in the course and plug in your information, easy peasy!
Why Should You Choose This Course and Write a Financial Aid Appeal Letter?
Many families are not aware that they can even appeal their financial aid offer. As a financial aid expert who used to review financial aid appeal letters, I can attest that using a specific strategy is extremely important. Financial aid professionals have limited information provided by the FAFSA to determine your financial aid offer, often an appeal letter can provide additional information that changes the equation. Also, the financial aid appeal letter is a chance to humanize yourself or your student and communicate with the financial aid decision-maker directly.
In this 4-part course I will teach you:
About the two different types of financial aid appeals and which one to use based on your circumstances
A proven strategy for best positioning yourself in a financial aid appeal letter
What financial aid administrators look for in appeal letters
Exactly what an appeal letter should consist of and how it should be organized
The dos and don’ts of writing an effective appeal letter
I have provided a template for you to use that you can just plug your information into. You don’t even need to take the whole course if you don’t want to, the template provides all the information you will need to write your appeal letter.
You don’t have to have unusual or special financial circumstances to appeal your financial aid offer. In fact, more than 80% of the families I help with this process receive additional aid, and more than half of them don’t have special circumstances.
“Hi Tina. With your help we have appealed the offers of 9 schools. To date, we have heard from 7 of them and have received significant additional grants or scholarships from 6. Thanks you so much!
–Ryan Goan
Frequently Asked Questions
How likely am I to get more financial aid if I write an appeal letter correctly?
While your situation is unique, approximately 80% of the families we’ve helped with this process receive additional financial aid as a result of their appeal letters. This isn’t a guarantee of your results, but the reality is that many of our students see a demonstrable benefit.
When is it appropriate to write a financial aid appeal letter?
This is a little tricky to answer because it assumes that it’s not typically appropriate. The reality is that the squeaky wheel gets greased, and that means you want to be squeaky! The only time a financial aid appeal letter is inappropriate is when the school you’re appealing to has a policy around only accepting certain kinds of appeals. The key here is to understand the college’s financial aid policies and what they mean for you.
Why do the appeal letters that follow ‘best practices’ work so well?
Financial Aid Administrators award financial aid based on federal and institutional regulations regarding all the information that is reported on the FAFSA and the CSS Profile (if required). Sometimes these forms don’t accurately reflect a families current financial circumstances. Additionally, if a student writes a compelling appeal letter regardless of whether or not there has been a change in financial circumstances, they are going to help the student if they are able to. Some colleges have extra funds they can use to award additional aid, but you have to ask in order for that to happen.
Simply put, if you follow the best practices, you make it as easy as possible for these administrators to say yes to your case and offer additional aid.