Early Decision, Early Action and Financial Aid

Saving for College

By the end of Junior Year or very early in the Senior Year of High School, some students have identified their dream college and want to apply much earlier than standard admissions deadlines. These “Early Decision” or “Early Action” students often file their applications before November 1 of their senior year with the hope of knowing that they’ve been admitted to their dream school well before the New Year, often as early as December 15th.  

Knowing the difference between Early Decision and Early Action and what that can mean for financial aid is important.

Early Decision (ED) refers to a binding decision to attend a specific school. Students who are in the Early Decision pool are contractually obligated to attend that school if they are admitted and must forego admission to any other institution. Students should not file more than one Early Decision application.  If accepted, students are expected to attend the college.

Early Action (EA) is a non-binding admissions process in which students are notified very early of their acceptance but are not contractually obligated to attend that college.  Some students apply Early Action to more than one college since they have the option to attend the college but is not contractually obligated.

Since an Early Decision acceptance is binding, it’s important to students to have a clear plan to pay for college before applying. Traditionally, the biggest challenge associated with Early Decision is affordability, since the choice is made without comparing actual financial aid offers from other schools.  Gaining early admission with the means to pay the bill outright regardless of financial aid and scholarships works for some, but not all families. If the financial aid offered to an Early Decision candidate is low, families have the option to appeal the decision. If the gap between the financial aid package and the family’s ability to pay is too large and the college cannot (or will not) fill the gap, students may be released from their obligation to attend due to financial hardship, but this release is not granted lightly and is considered rare.

Early Decision and Early Action candidates are eligible for both merit-based vs. need-based financial aid. Need-based financial aid awards provided by federal, state and colleges consider income and asset information filed on the FAFSA , and for many private colleges via the CSS Profile.  It is important to know if the college requires the CSS Profile in addition to the FAFSA to be eligible for that college’s institutional aid packages.

Early Decision and Early Action candidates are also eligible for Merit-based scholarships which are often awarded to students based on test scores, grades, sports, community service, location and other student qualities and achievements.

Early Action allows students the benefit of immediately applying to several schools instead of just one and permitting financial aid offers to be compared without being bound to just one institution. Early Action has become common to help students narrow their list to several colleges and compare financial aid before committing to a particular college.

When making a final decision about applying to a college using Early Action or Early Decision, be sure to consider the financial implications and potential eligibility for financial aid eligibility before filing the application.  Financial aid applications, both the FAFSA and CSS Profile are available on October 1 each year for the next academic year. Filing these forms as early as possible will help ensure that students receive full consideration for need-based financial aid.