A college acceptance letter can feel like winning the lottery, but the financial aid packet that follows often reads like a riddle. Instead of clear answers about what college will actually cost, students face pages of cryptic terms and oddly cheerful numbers.
Grants and loans sit side by side without explanation, almost daring families to misread them. The result is an emotional rollercoaster where hope and anxiety collide in equal measure. And the big question lingers: is this confusing by accident, or by design?
