If you feel that you didn’t get enough financial aid from your college, you can decide to “appeal” for more aid. What is an appeal? Well, think of your financial aid award letter as an initial offer. It's not necessarily the final amount that the college will offer you. You can therefore request (and negotiate for) more aid. This negotiation process is most commonly known as a financial aid appeal. It can also be called a Revision or a Professional Judgement.


There are three strong reasons to give when appealing for more aid. The first two are related to other college offers that you have received: 

  1. You got accepted to a more prestigious college, of the same type. 

  2. You got a better price from a similarly-ranked college, of the same type. 

The third reason is related to finances:

  1. Your family had a change in financial circumstance, for example, a parent losing their job since the year reported on your FAFSA®. (So on the 2025-2026 FAFSA® that opened in November 2024, you'll report on your 2023 financial situation).

There is also, technically, a final reason, but this is a “weak” appeal and will have the least chance of success: 

  1. You simply didn’t receive enough. This may be because the FAFSA® didn’t ask about certain extenuating circumstances, like extreme debt. 


You can create your own appeal letter on Going Merry here.


Aside from an appeal, you may fill any remaining financial gaps with private student loans or by applying for external scholarships (check out your Matched Scholarships page on Going Merry!)