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Financial Aid > Need-Based Financial Aid
The federal government believes that each family should contribute what they can toward college costs. This amount is determined by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the Lake Forest Application for Financial Aid (LFAFA), and is often called the "expected family contribution."
If your family cannot pay the entire cost of college for one year, you have "financial need" and may qualify for "need-based" financial aid. We can show this in a simple math equation:
Cost of School - Family Contribution = Financial Need
Since each college/university costs a different amount, the "financial need" will vary from one school to another. Using the above equation, here is how one student will qualify for different amounts of financial aid at three different schools.
School #1: $37,500 - $5,000 = $32,500
School #2: $18,000 - $5,000 = $13,000
School #3: $4,000 - $5,000 = $0
You see then, that if the cost of one college is higher, the amount of "financial need" you have -- and the amount of financial aid you qualify to receive -- will be greater as well.
Need-based financial aid is available in three categories. For more information about a specific category, select from the menu on the left.
- Grants: money that does not have to be repaid; it is sometimes called "gift assistance"
- Loans: money borrowed by the student or his/her parent, repaid over several years
- Work-Study: money that is earned by working part-time (usually on campus) during the school year
Important: While scholarships are often based on merit, scholarships must be used to apply toward any "financial need" that you have.
Looking at School #1 above, if you are offered a $10,000 academic scholarship, that award will apply toward your "financial need" of $32,500 leaving you with $22,500 of "financial need" to be met by other financial aid.
New students who plan to apply for need-based financial aid should review our FAFSA Process web page.
