How should I compare Brown and Emory financial aid offers to determine which is the better value?

The biggest practical tradeoff is that Brown’s need-based aid is designed to minimize borrowing, while Emory’s offer may combine need-based grants with work-study, loans, or a renewable merit award. Compare the net amount your family must actually supply, not the largest grant line. Also separate guaranteed institutional aid from funds that require employment, borrowing, or annual renewal.

For each offer, start with the school’s full cost of attendance: tuition and fees, housing and food, health insurance if applicable, books, travel, and personal expenses. Subtract only grants and scholarships that do not need to be repaid. The remainder is your true annual family cost before deciding whether to cover it with savings, current income, a payment plan, student work, or loans.

Treat work-study as an opportunity to earn money, not as a discount already in hand. A student typically must find an eligible job and work the hours to receive those wages. Treat federal student loans separately from grants as well: they can be a reasonable tool, but they are still debt.

At Emory, identify whether each scholarship is need-based or merit-based and ask about its renewal terms. Verify the required enrollment status, academic standing, duration of the award, and whether the amount is fixed or adjusted when tuition, family finances, or other aid changes.

Create a four-year comparison using conservative assumptions: annual net cost, likely increases in billed expenses, required borrowing, and realistic travel costs. If the gap is meaningful, send each financial-aid office the other school’s offer and any new documentation, such as changed income or unusual medical expenses, and request a reconsideration.

The better value is the offer with the lower four-year family cost and less required debt after accounting for the program you would actually pursue.