<p>Institutional aid–grants provided by her college that do not need to be paid back. This is the majority of my sister’s package.</p>
<p>Federal aid–Pell grants (this is what’s being cut back on), federal work-study, Stafford loans, and an additional federal grant reserved for the neediest of students. No PLUS loans, so my parents aren’t involved in this at all. This is about a quarter of my sister’s package, maybe a little more.</p>
<p>Private loan–Financed by a bank. This is the smallest component of her aid package at $2000. My sisters and I do not have suitable co-signers.</p>