Your finances: Haggling for college aid

Colleges have been giving high school seniors the good news -- who got in where -- and the bad news -- how much it will cost.

Now, parents are trying to make the numbers work so their kids can give colleges their final answers by May 1.

Parents will check bank balances and sofa cushions for the cash to make it happen. Financial aid officers will steel themselves for the calls they know are coming, as parents appeal for bigger and better awards. "This is the month of negotiating," says Bob Ilukowicz, a financial aid consultant in Smithtown.

Almost 80 percent of full-time undergraduates get some kind of aid, according to the U.S. Department of Education, and roughly 64 percent get the good kind -- grants that don't have to be paid back.

But with tuition alone over $40,000 at more than 100 pricey schools ("obscene," Ilukowicz says), how much aid is ever enough? And how can you get it? Here are a few strategies for "haggle month," and beyond.

Ask for more. Roughly two-thirds of parents who appeal their Amherst College aid awards get more money, admits Joe Paul Case, the school's financial aid administrator. And Case runs a strictly needs-based aid office. At schools that have discretionary funds to offer merit aid and meet competition, the rewards for asking for an upgraded offer are even better.

Cry and share. Family issues that don't appear on financial aid forms -- the cost of a nursing home for grandparents, costly health issues, the lingering money squeeze from a recent stint of unemployment -- can sway colleges to provide more financial aid.

Flaunt your popularity. If you've got a better aid offer from a competitive school, do send it to the school you really want to attend, but be gracious about it. Note that you really want to go to School A, but money is really tight, and the generous offer from School B is making it hard.

Think long and hard about your choices. If your child wants to major in theater and can't go to Pricey Private without accumulating $50,000 or more in loans, maybe Good Old State U is the better bet.

Think creatively about other solutions. It's not uncommon for students now to start their college career with community college courses that cost less. Taking prerequisites this way can shave a costly semester or more off school. A high school senior who takes a gap year to work and save before heading off to college can offset some college costs with those savings.

Fill all the gaps. Home equity lines of credit now have lower rates than many college loans; refinancing a home mortgage is another way to make it work.