How should I compare undergraduate financial aid packages from Carnegie Mellon and WashU?

Compare the schools’ official net price, not the headline award: subtract only grants and scholarships from the full cost of attendance, then examine what remains. Include tuition, housing, food, mandatory fees, books, travel, personal expenses, and any health-insurance charge you would actually pay.

Separate each package into four columns: gift aid, loans, work-study, and your family’s out-of-pocket cost. Grants and scholarships are gift aid, although you should check renewal requirements, such as full-time enrollment, academic progress, or whether a merit award stays flat while tuition rises. Federal Direct Loans are real debt; work-study is an opportunity to earn wages during the year, not money that reduces your bill at the start of the semester.

Ask each financial-aid office whether the award is expected to remain similar for four years, how they treat annual income changes, and whether outside scholarships reduce loans, work-study, or institutional grants. The FAFSA’s Student Aid Index is not necessarily the amount your family will pay; both colleges may use their own institutional methodology to determine need.

Choose the package with the lower realistic four-year family cost after counting required borrowing and excluding uncertain work-study earnings.