A student’s Financial Need is calculated as the difference between Cost of Education and Expected family Contribution. Once the need is determined, Financial Aid Office will fill it with different types of awards available.
In addition the Estimated Family Contribution can be replaced with non-need based loans such as Unsubsidized Stafford, PLUS or a private loan. Please take a look at the “Types of Aid” section of this site for a description of the different sources of funds managed by the Financial Aid Office.
