College Financial Aid Award Letters Confidentiality

Unless they are merit scholarships, I wouldn’t tell them - if your aid is need-based, then it is based on your own individual financial profile, so the actual numbers don’t really mean anything to anyone else, and can lead to “why did she get more aid than me when we have the same need?” I see this as a tax preparer all the time - just because you think someone else’s situation is the same as yours doesn’t mean it really is. It is really eye-opening when you find out your neighbor who doesn’t manage money well makes significantly more than you, but can’t save a dime.

If they are trying to use the information to guide future students, in terms of which colleges are more generous, with their need-based aid, I would let them know that College A met our need with all scholarships, while College B used scholarships and direct loans, and College C included $20,000 in parent loans in our formula. That information would be far more useful