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Interpreting Award Letters
Presented by: Jessica Karner and Lecia Sligh
Presented to: Upward Bound Seniors

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Congratulations!
• First things first, YOU GOT INTO COLLEGE! Congratulations are in
order before you start worrying about exactly how much money you
are getting to go to college
• Award letters are meant to show you how much the school is
awarding you, how much you are getting in federal funding, and how
much you are getting in state funding.
• Award letters also often offer loans to you.

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Pop Quiz!
• What is a grant?
• A Grant is money provided to you that you do not have to pay
back, ever.
• What is a loan?
• A loan is money that you will have to pay back to the lender. The
lender could be the school or the government. The loan can be
subsidized or unsubsidized. Unsubsidized loans accrue interest
from the date they are dispersed. Subsidized loans begin accruing
interest after you leave school.
• What is a scholarship?
• A scholarship is awarded to a student. Scholarships are often
awarded based on merit or need. They do not have to be paid
back. You can also apply to scholarships!
• What is the EFC?
• EFC is the expected family contribution. This is what the college
believes your family can contribute to your education.

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Lets talk Award Letters
• Colleges will undoubtedly be sending you award letters for how
much money they are going to provide you with.
• First and foremost you should sit down and determine the difference
between a loan and a scholarship or grant on the award letter!
• Secondly, sit down with the Upward Bound office to determine your
“gap” after getting your award
• Third, sit down with your parents to discuss if that gap is fillable
• This ALL should happen before making a final decision about
schools
• Award letters can be intimidating so take them one step at a time.
We are going to look at a couple examples right now.
• Remember that award letters are for that school year specifically

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XYZ College
• XYZ College offered all grants and scholarships except for one loan,
for 3500 dollars
• This loan is subsidized meaning that it wills tart accruing interest
after you either leave college or graduate from college
• This does not show the estimated cost so it is hard to determine the
gap.
• Does this award seem reasonable if it costs $30,000 a year to
attend?
• Note that you do not have to accept all of the awards.

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University of Buffalo
• What is the first thing you noticed about the University of Buffalo
Sample Award Letter?
• University of Buffalo would cost about 31,000 dollars for you to
attend a year, how does this award letter stack up?

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Source Fall Spring Total
PMC Resident Student Grant $6,250 $6,250 $12,500
Federal Pell Grant $2,775 $2,775 $5,500
Matching Grant $250 $250 $500
State Grant $950 $950 $1,900
Federal Work-Study Eligibility $900 $900 $1,800
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan $1,750 $1,750 $3,500
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan $1,000 $1,000 $2,000
Academic Promise Grant $1,000 $1,000 $2,000
Parent Plus Loan $3,400 $3,400 $6,800
Total Awards $18,275 $18,275 $36,550
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The total cost to attend Pine Manor College is 47,000 Estimated

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Pine Manor College
• What is your gap?
• Let’s discuss the issues with this letter!

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