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.
Going Merry helps students create their own personalized appeal letter through our Appeal Letter Generator tool.
Log in or sign up for a Going Merry account to access the Appeal Letter Generator.
Follow the four steps shown in the video below to generate your appeal letter:
Enter your basic info about yourself and your college
Answer questions about your college and why it's your top choice
List the reasons for your appeal
Review, download, and send your letter to your college's financial aid office
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:
You got accepted to a more prestigious college of the same type.
You got a better price from a similarly ranked college of the same type.
The third reason is related to finances:
Your family had a change in financial circumstances, 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:
You simply didn’t receive enough. This may be because the FAFSA® didn’t ask about certain extenuating circumstances, like extreme debt.
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!)