Name:
Date:
Program:
How to use this worksheet. Money stops more people than grades do, usually because the cost is never worked out properly. This sheet is about getting a real number and finding out what help exists — before it becomes a reason to give up.
PART 1
The Cost Is More Than Tuition
Read together first.
What actually costs money
- Tuition and fees — the number the college advertises.
- Books, equipment and materials, which vary enormously by program.
- Transport, and whether you need it every day.
- Hours you cannot work because you are in class — often the biggest hidden cost.
Key idea: Work out the whole number. A plan built on the advertised figure alone tends to fall apart in the first term.
PART 2
My Real Number
Estimate honestly. An approximate answer you can see beats an exact one you never finish.
1.Tuition and fees per term or year:
2.Books, equipment and materials:
3.Transport:
4.Work hours I would lose, and roughly what those are worth:
5.Rough total:
Clarify — If you cannot find a figure, write your best guess and mark it with a question mark. A guessed number you can improve later is more useful than a blank.
PART 3
What Help Exists
Find out rather than assume. Most people underestimate what they qualify for.
6.Grants or scholarships I might qualify for:
7.What is the application deadline for each?
8.Does my program have funding specific to it?
9.Is there help available through work, a union, or a community organization?
Clarify — Deadlines are where funding is most often lost — not eligibility. Write the dates down here even if you are unsure whether you will apply.
PART 4
The Gap
Subtract, and look at what is left honestly.
10.Rough total cost minus the help I expect:
11.Is that gap manageable? If not, what would have to change?
12.Would studying part-time, or starting later, change the number?
Clarify — A gap that looks impossible is worth saying out loud rather than avoiding. There are usually options — part-time study, a different start date, a different program — but only if the number is on the table.
PART 5
Questions I Will Ask
Write the actual questions. You are more likely to ask them if they are already written.
13.Two questions for the financial aid office:
14.Who am I asking, and how (email, phone, in person)?
15.By when?
Clarify — Financial aid staff answer these questions all day; you are not imposing. Write the questions plainly — you do not need to sound like you already understand the system.
💡 Tips for You: Money Questions Are Normal Questions
- Ask early, not late. Financial aid offices expect these questions all day. Asking is not admitting you cannot afford it. One question worth asking in a supported program: is this an approved Comprehensive Transition Program (CTP)? Students in an approved CTP can qualify for federal aid even without a standard high school diploma.
- A guess with a question mark beats a blank. You can improve an estimate later. You cannot improve nothing.
- Deadlines lose more funding than eligibility does. Put every date in your phone the day you learn it, even if you are not sure you will apply.
Reflection
Which number surprised you most? Which cost are you least sure about, and who can give you the real figure? What is the one deadline you cannot afford to miss?
— End of Worksheet —
Bring this to your next session and talk it through.
FOR MENTOR USE — STUDY THIS TOGETHER
Mentor Guide
How to run this worksheet, use the hints, and review it together
1. What this builds
Cost reasoning that includes the parts students routinely miss: materials, transport, and forgone earnings. The sheet's real purpose is to convert a vague dread about money into a specific number with a specific gap, because a number can be planned around and a dread cannot.
2. Running it
- Read the part headings aloud together before the student starts. Knowing the shape of the sheet lowers the cost of starting.
- There are no wrong answers on the fill-in lines — this is the student's own thinking, not a test.
- Every working part has a Clarify hint. The student should try the part first and read the hint only if stuck. It gives a strategy, never words to copy.
- If a line stays blank, that is information. Ask what made it hard rather than filling it in for them.
3. What to watch for
- Blank cells in Part 2. Push for a guess with a question mark rather than accepting a blank — the estimate is what makes the rest of the sheet work.
- Part 3 answered from assumption (“I probably don't qualify”). That belief costs students real money; the correct response is to find out, and the deadline line is there to make that concrete.
- Part 4 producing an alarming gap. Do not rush to reassure. Ask what would have to change — part-time, later start, different program — and treat those as legitimate options rather than defeats.
- This sheet can raise real distress. It is worth doing alongside someone rather than as homework.
4. Reviewing it
Review with the student, not by marking the page. Ask them to read one answer aloud and say why they wrote it — the reason matters more than the wording.
Finish by agreeing one specific thing to try before the next session. Write it on the last line so it is not lost.