• The Financial Aid Award Comparison Tool allows students to create a free account on CaliforniaColleges.edu  and then compare up to six financial aid award packages from California colleges and universities using the information from their award letters. After entering all of their award information into the tool, students will be able to see the following:

    1. “The Gap”, or the remaining cost of college that still is not met through grants, scholarships or loans (a negative result actually means that the student has a surplus from the financial aid awarded).
    2. The percentage ratio of “free aid” vs. “loan aid” with explanations of what this ratio means and why this is important.
    3. Students can save their worksheets and also print them.
    4. They can link to a repayment calculator which will allow them to view their repayment options.


    The tool can be accessed by:

    1. Go to www.californiacolleges.edu <http://www.californiacolleges.edu>
    2. Log on to your account or create a free account if you do not already have one
    3. Click “Finance” (or click the link in the middle of the home page)
    4. Click “Compare Financial Aid Awards”
    5. Select the California college or university from the drop down menu (the total cost of attendance will auto populate)
    6. Enter information from your award letter

    Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Save Worksheets and Compare Awards”