For decades, complicated financial aid formulas and variable sticker prices have made it difficult for students to understand the real price of college. For colleges, understanding students’ financial need is also challenging; current financial aid formulas cause many students’ actual need to be understated. This report examines what happens when: financial aid leaders and staff better understand students’ financial need, as operationalized by negative EFC; and students better understand college costs and how to advocate for more financial support. Using data gathered at Temple University and six colleges and universities in Texas, we explore how more nuanced information about college costs and financial need can change beliefs and behavior among financial aid staff, leaders, and students.
