How should I compare Georgetown and Duke undergraduate financial aid packages?

The more affordable choice is the one with the lower guaranteed four-year cost to your family after grants and scholarships, not the one showing the smaller first-year “net price” on its award letter. Treat work-study as money you may earn during the year, not aid that automatically reduces your bill. Treat every loan as a cost you will repay, even if it makes the package look larger.

First, rebuild both offers in the same format. Start with each school’s full cost of attendance, then subtract only gift aid: university grants, named scholarships, and outside scholarships that are confirmed. Separate tuition, required fees, housing, food, health insurance if applicable, books, travel, and personal expenses. Duke and Georgetown may estimate indirect costs differently, so compare your likely actual spending rather than assuming identical budget categories.

Next, identify what is truly billed by the institution. A lower billed amount can matter more for cash flow than a package with lower estimated total cost but higher required payments each semester. For off-campus housing, travel home, and health insurance, use your own realistic estimates for both Durham and Washington, D.C., rather than relying entirely on either school’s standard allowance.

Then compare the financing components. Distinguish federal student loans from parent loans and private loans, and calculate the total borrowing required over four years. Ask each financial-aid office whether institutional grants are renewable, what academic or financial conditions apply, and whether need-based grants are likely to change if your family’s finances remain similar.

Finally, calculate a four-year worksheet for each school: family cash contribution plus student loans plus any parent/private borrowing, minus realistic work-study earnings. If one package depends on circumstances that have changed since you applied, such as income loss, unusual medical costs, sibling tuition, or a nonrecurring expense, request a reconsideration using the other offer only as context, not as an ultimatum. The clearer comparison is the package that requires less family cash and less borrowing across all four years while keeping the grant portion dependable.