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Continue reading your article with a WSJ membership. Resume Subscription We are delighted that you'd like to resume your subscription. Please click confirm to resume now. Sponsored Offers. Most Popular News. Most Popular Opinion. Financial aid can include a mix of need-based and merit-based assistance. Sending a child to college often is one of the largest expenses a family will incur, and financial aid can ease the burden significantly. As the May 1 deadline most schools impose for accepting admission draws closer, here is how to figure out which school is offering you the most favorable deal, which could translate into thousands of dollars in savings each year:.

For most families, the number that matters most is how much they will have to spend out of their own pockets. Ken Schmitt says he, his wife, Juliet, and their daughter, Cassidy, who is 17 years old, spent weeks reviewing financial-aid letters from 12 colleges. Schmitt, who lives in Carlsbad, Calif. In , the U. The sheet calls for schools to provide the estimated cost of attendance, as well as the total for grants and scholarships.

The net amount would give families a clear sense of how much they would have to pay. The sheet then includes payment options, such as loans—which have to be repaid—and work-study, where schools provide jobs to students. Nearly 3, U. Tufts University uses a two-step approach. Its financial-aid letters list grants, loans and work-study in the same section.

The school, in Medford, Mass. But the university also includes the shopping sheet, so that families can distinguish between free aid and assistance that comes with strings attached.

The University of the Pacific, based in Stockton, Calif. Near the top of the letter, it lists grants, scholarships and loans under financial aid. The letter states an estimated amount that a family will owe Pacific.

But families who want to know roughly how much they actually will have to pay must add back in any loan amounts listed as financial aid, as well as other costs such as books and supplies, transportation costs, and loan origination and insurance fees, which are listed elsewhere on the letter.

Michael Thompson, vice provost for enrollment management at Pacific. Thompson says the school will review the federal shopping sheet and likely make changes to its letter.

Financial aid is used by many colleges as a recruiting tool. Parents and students can find out in advance whether such a reduction is likely.