By Howard and Matthew Greene

As your financial aid packages come in, you may have a tough time deciding on which school to attend, especially if you crafted your college list carefully. Picking a school for purely social or academic reasons is simple, but, for most students, making a final decision includes a thorough assessment of the total cost of attending each institution. Financial considerations can make or break the decision to go to your first-choice school, but there are some things to consider which may help make your decision easier.

Total Cost of Attendance
First, concentrate on the concept of each institution's Total Cost of Attendance. Whether or not you applied for need-based financial aid or received unsolicited or requested merit-based awards, you will have materials at your disposal from each college outlining that institution's tuition, fees, room and board, and possibly other expenses. Try to compare apples to apples by making sure each college is including the same factors in its Total Cost figures and not leaving out key elements. Then, subtract grant and scholarship aid, which you do not need to re-pay. That is your bottom line, and it can vary significantly from one institution to another. Other elements of your aid package, if you applied for need-based financial aid, may include work-study, which requires you to work and save, and loans, which you do need to re-pay. Thus, these latter two components of your aid package should be included in your Total Cost of Attendance. In the case of loans, you will be adding interest paid over the life of the loan to your Total Cost. While grants and scholarships decrease the total amount you will pay to attend a college, loans will increase the amount you will pay by adding interest. You are only putting off paying for college to another day, with the hope you will have a higher income and the ability to pay back the loans.

Hidden costs
Look for hidden costs associated with attending each college, such as travel, a high cost of living, or textbooks. Financial aid packages will frequently take into account travel expenses and the cost of living associated with a particular school, but they often leave out other costs. You may be surprised at how expensive it is to live in a major metropolitan area such as New York, Washington, D.C., or San Francisco. Your estimated cost of living should include off-campus housing if the college doesn't guarantee on-campus housing for four years, as well as food, entertainment, and local transportation. Travel to and from a college far from home, whether by plane, bus, train, or car, is quite expensive, and can limit your ability to visit friends and family. You should also know that one of the highest hidden costs of attending college is the price of textbooks. You might ask the colleges you are considering if they have any special textbook exchange or support programs.

Expiration dates
Examine the fine print associated with your grants, scholarships, and overall aid package. Are these awards renewable? For four years? Do they diminish or increase each year? Determine if you need to maintain a certain GPA or other sign of "academic progress" in order to keep your award. Each January you are in college, you must re-apply for need-based aid for the following fall. Find out if  the colleges you are considering have a consistent record of supporting students through four (or more) years of study, the average loan debt of their graduates, and their average overall level of support. Meet with financial aid officers on campus to discuss the likely trajectory of your aid package over four years, including, for example, what will happen when your siblings enter or leave college.

Work-study
Assess your ability to handle work-study requirements, including work on campus or in the college community, and the need to save a certain amount prior to entering the college. Many students find work helps them concentrate on their studies, while others need all the time they can get to succeed academically. You need to determine if the work-study and savings requirements are reasonable for you, what kinds of jobs are available on campus and in the surrounding community which will qualify for work-study, and if you will be paid a wage that is subsidized by the federal government.

Student debt
Consider the short- and long-term implications of loan debt. Who is taking out the loans - you, your parents, or both? If the loans are subsidized, the federal government pays the interest on them while you are in college and until you begin repayment. Weigh private loan options carefully by determining if they are credible, or if there are significant risks associated with them, such as ballooning interest payments or attachments made to your future earnings. A reasonable amount of debt is considered acceptable for most students since post-graduation earnings are likely to be considerably higher. The average total loan debt for those earning a bachelor's degree these days is about $20,000, though some students will take out considerably more debt. High debt can limit your choice of careers and ability to attend graduate school.

Ultimately, it could make sense for you to choose the college on your list with the highest Total Cost of Attendance, as it may have much better programs in your areas of interest, a far higher level of prestige or some other attractiveness for you. You might be surprised, however, to find yourself choosing a lesser "name" college because the cost is much less and it has good programs that will help you advance toward graduate school and/or a career. Evaluate your choices carefully, and make your decision as well-informed as possible.