--- title: How to Ask Your College for a Bigger Financial Aid Package description: 'You can appeal to colleges for a bigger financial aid package: sometimes they can cut you a better deal.' authors: - name: Kim Clark url: https://money.com/author/kim-clark/ at_money_since: 2013 articles: 62 covers: - Education - Housing - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance social: - https://x.com/Money_College former_staff: true published: '2016-03-30T10:29:30.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T10:20:42.000Z' section: Education tags: - College - cut college costs - fafsa - financial aid - financial aid offer - need-based aid - negotiate deal - Paying for College - Scholarship - tuition word_count: 308 canonical: https://money.com/ask-college-for-bigger-financial-aid-package/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![help sign in stones](https://img.money.com/2016/03/160330_col_haggle1.jpg) *This might work, but there are better ways.* Once you know the bottom-line price for each school that has accepted you (see How to Compare Your College Financial Aid Letters), you can sometimes use that as leverage to bargain for a better aid package. You'll have your best shot at private colleges of similar quality, which may match or beat another school's offer if they consider a student especially desirable. That often means higher grades or test scores than the average for that school—information you can find at [CollegeData.com](http://collegedata.com/). You can try to negotiate by phone or visit the campus and do so in person. That worked for Erin Dymowski, a Maryland mom of five. Instead of immediately sending a deposit to her son's top choice, [Ithaca College](https://money.com/best-colleges/), the family visited the campus and told a financial aid officer their son preferred Ithaca but had a better offer from [Hofstra University](https://money.com/best-colleges/). The financial aid officer asked the family to write an appeal letter requesting additional aid. Ultimately Ithaca sweetened its scholarship offer, bringing the family's net cost down to about $17,000 a year, from $19,500. [![Best college education image](https://content.money.com/wp-content/themes/money2018/img/college-site-banner-02.png)](https://best-colleges.time.com/money/search-colleges/?xid=cm-mcpFindTheCollegeWidget) You can also ask for more aid based solely on need, especially if your circumstances have changed or if you have a burdensome expense that wasn't reflected in your financial aid forms. For example, you might have lost your job since you filled out the [Free Application for Federal Student Aid](https://money.com/what-is-fafsa-and-who-should-fill-it-out/?iid=sr-link9) (FAFSA), or someone in your family may have been through a major illness, notes Megan McClean, managing director of policy and federal relations for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. To make your case, send a letter to the school, providing any relevant documentation and asking for a "professional judgment review." While there are no official statistics on how many need-based appeals prove successful, virtually every college will at least consider one. 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