College Match and Cost Comparison Activity

Website: www.whatsnextillinois.org

Login instructions:

Sign In: cps + ID #
Password: cps + ID #

Have students set new password – ID #

Objective: Students will use What’s Next Illinois to search for colleges of interest and compare the financial aid packages offered at different schools.

• Have students go to “your portfolio”
• Have students go to “college planning portfolio”
• Have students go to “post secondary plan”

Students should have schools saved if students do not have schools or want to add or change schools follow step A. If students are happy with saved schools follow step B.

Step A
• Have students go to “College Planning”
• Have students go to “Explore Schools”
• Students should use the “College Matching Assistant” or the “School Finder” to find colleges that match based on: GPA/ACT scores, ideal size and location, cost, and majors/programs of interest offered.
• Students should find one affordable school ($10,00 or less, one reach school $30,000 or more, and one in between)
• Students should ‘save’ schools they prefer as they explore them
• Go to Step B after schools are saved

Step B
• Have students go to “Financial Aid Planning”
• Have students go to “Build Your Financial Aid Plan”
• Have students go to “Financial Aid Wizard”
• Have students write down the total estimated cost for the school they have saved
• Have students go to “Award letters”
• There students enter in the numbers from the EFC Activity (Most likely 0)


Pell Grant = Pell Grant + Federal Supplemental
State Grant = MAAP Grant + Academic Competitiveness