Here’s a financial aid mistake I’ve seen some parents make. They applied for financial aid when their first child was preparing to start college, and they didn’t get a favorable result (no aid at all, or all loans and no grants). Now they have a second or third student entering college, and they decide not to apply for aid because they assume the results will be similar. They’ve experienced financial aid disappointment before and understandably don’t want to go through the trouble of filling out the forms again.
Here’s why that works against you. The number of children in a family who are enrolled in college simultaneously has a big impact on your financial aid eligibility, even if your income and assets remain unchanged. That’s why families with multiple kids in college at the same time tend to get more financial aid.
Bottom line: financial aid assumptions frequently work against you. If you have a student applying to college, apply for need-based aid, even if you’ve been hurt before.