After You Submit Your Application, Paying For College
uAspire’s College Cost Calculator is a free online tool that helps you compare multiple financial aid offers and calculate the total cost of attending different colleges. With the Calculator, you learn about the financial aid process, build self-advocacy skills, and increase financial literacy.
Why did we create the Cost Calculator?
Financial aid offers, also called award letters or financial aid packages, can be very difficult to decipher. There’s no industry or government standard for colleges to communicate costs consistently or transparently to students. Different colleges use different formatting and jargon for the same types of aid or loans and the information they include varies. Some don’t clearly label student loans and often omit details about the total cost, making it a challenge for students to figure out how much they will have to pay. As a result, it is exceedingly difficult for students and families to make an informed financial decision.
We believe students deserve to be able to better navigate the process of financing college, especially when leveraging their futures with loans to pay for a college degree. College-goers should be able to make apples-to-apples comparisons between schools easily, instead of having to decipher the information from a hodgepodge of offers. This is why we developed the uAspire College Cost Calculator and are providing students direct, free access to a decoding device for better decision-making about college.
Who can use the Calculator?
ANYONE. uAspire’s College Cost Calculator is available for general use, for free. The mobile version is easy to use, like the desktop version, making it accessible for those without reliable internet access.
The calculator is also intended as a free resource for school counselors and financial aid officers to share with their students. High schools and colleges can begin sharing the Calculator with their students immediately.
What are the benefits of using uAspire’s Calculator?
The Calculator empowers students to know and compare the full costs of attending multiple colleges in order to make more informed decisions about where to go to college and how to pay for it while minimizing student debt. The Calculator was developed to:
- Help text, images guide students to find and enter info
- Data validation reduces entry mistakes
- Summary report compares aid, estimated bill, loan projection for each school
- Student accounts can be accessed, updated, shared anytime from any device
- Financial terms dictionary, tips, next steps, and links to resources
Why do we ask you to create an account?
By creating an account, save and share a one-page summary that compares the aid offer, estimated bill for the upcoming year, and a 4-year loan projection for each school. The report can be downloaded to a PDF and translated to Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese.
You can also save your information, come back to it at a later date, and add more schools to compare as you receive additional financial aid offers.
Check out their college cost calculator here.
College Success
Throughout our whole education journey, we constantly hear about scholarships and how
wonderful it is to be awarded one, but we almost never see how to really apply for one.
Depending on the sort of scholarship you are seeking for, the application might be extremely
complex or quite simple. There are many different scholarships available, and the greatest thing
about them is that anybody may apply for one. Some scholarships are only available to members
of particular groups, while others are available to all applicants. Everyone is able to receive one
no matter what, if you put in the work and work hard you will be able to receive one. Let’s go
through a few ways you can look for a scholarship!
1. Research the Types of Scholarships:
● Be knowledgeable about the scholarships you’ll apply to. Do research
if you need to!
● Apply to scholarships that connect with you
– Such as those that speak to your interests, background, and
desires.
● Look into scholarships that list your unique traits to help you stand out
from other candidates.
2. Complete All Requirements/Criterias:
● Make sure to read all of the scholarship details.
● Read carefully (don’t miss deadlines or requirements).
● It is essential to complete every part.
3. Exceed:
● If possible, turn in ahead of time, to prevent missing deadlines.
● Go above and beyond in your responses.
● Apply to as many scholarships as possible, don’t rely on just one!
● List unique traits about yourself! Don’t be afraid to be your own
supporter!!
4. Have Documents at Hand & Ready to Use:
● Letters of Recommendation
● Resume (updated and polished!)
● Get advice on your writing piece
– Have a few people revise your work.
5. Check in On the Scholarships:
● Follow up with any requirements that may be needed or missing.
● Check your emails regularly.
● Get in contact if necessary.
Last Note:
Make sure you’re authentic to yourself and just apply, you don’t lose anything!
Basic Needs Support, Paying For College
Basic Needs: Student Navigator Network
The Student Navigator Network (SNN) was a system designed amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that aimed to assist students with resources to pursue higher education. The Student Navigator program is largely run by Rise, a non-profit that addresses the challenges students face at college. Rise helps students apply for emergency financial assistance, find community support systems, learn their public health benefits and receive updates on policies, programs, and resources. The Student Navigator Network largely serves college students in higher education either at trade school or at community colleges in Los Angeles County. However, the LA cohort-based out of USC is willing to connect all California’s college students to resources. Resources include financial, academic, and personal assistance. This aims to help bridge the gap between students and the higher education system by offering resources needed to assist these institutions.
The Student Navigator Network has served over 7,000 students. They helped students receive at least $897,875 in financial assistance. The Student Navigator Network works on a three-tier strategy at a micro, mezzo, and macro level. The micro-level aims to work with individual students in the form of outreach and advocacy. Partners aim to provide students with emotional support, encouragement and help students create a timeline to accomplish their goals. The mezzo scale aims to have practitioners work with institutions and communities to make a difference in students’ lives like identifying and improving campus resources and collaborating with community and government programs. The marco level has practitioners work on large-scale advocacy programs on all government levels to address the inequity in public education institutions.
For more information regarding the SNN and to help you find emergency financial aid, apply for public benefits, and connect with local resources visit this link: Our Student Navigator Network.
If you are a student seeking to start your own Student Navigator Network on your campus submit this interest form: Student Navigator Network Form.
The Student Navigator Network is an excellent opportunity for students who are looking for resources to guide them throughout their college experience. The Student Navigator Network is met to aid and assist students throughout their college journey. The hope is that this program can help diminish the stigma students feel when asking for help and bridge the gap of inequity in the higher education system.
