Financial Aid Awarded

Today I received my financial aid award letter. When I opened the letter and glanced at the estimated cost vs. the aid offered, I nearly lost my mind! I immediately called my sister, who has been attending college for the past few years, without taking the time to read the full document. She assured me that I couldn’t possibly need $17,164 to attend a community college and had me review it again. I noticed that they laid out a budget for room and board, transportation and personal items. “THANK GOD!” I said, as I started to calm down to my normal self. Always read a document in it’s entirety before you come to a conclusion. Classes cost $71/credit and books, if I buy them used should only be about $50 each. I’ll need to factor in the cost of preschool, which is astonishingly low. The school is close and I doubt I’ll need $2,574 for transportation, as the letter indicated. Since room and board and personal expenses are already covered by other means, $2,675 per semester should do it. I’m not sure why, but I expected I’d need a lot more. Hopefully there aren’t some hidden costs of school that I am unaware of. Do I see a laptop in my near future?