Students understand game rules better when they play them. There are many rules governing financial aid and college tuition costs that often are misunderstood, or not understood at all. With these games, students can gain greater understanding of their role in the application process, what to expect in follow-through, and what to prepare for when planning for college.
Application Jeopardy
Answers and questions for players in the style of Jeopardy can mirror those questions asked on FAFSA forms and college applications. Without giving away personal information, student responses can focus on where the question came from, what it seeks to determine, and where to go to find the answer. Students will become familiar with the type of information they should be prepared with when they apply.
College Cost Chess
Using the plays and rules of a chess game, college costs are allocated to chess pieces as they move about and play by the rules. Living Expenses can be King, for example, and Tuition can be Queen. Pawns can be dollars spent, Rooks can be dollars earned, Bishops charity, Knights inheritance, and so forth. As pieces are removed by strategy, players can evaluate what is left as their options dwindle, and allocate resources accordingly.
Financial Aid Monopoly
The game of Monopoly can be rearranged to mirror factors within the financial aid system, to include parental resources, assets, living expenses, claiming oneself as independent, filing status, residency, income, school expenses, college aid, tuition costs, state grants, scholarships, work study, etc. Players will become familiar with the financial aid rules that make education possible, be exposed to the consequences of how they allocate their resources, and develop an understanding of the sum value behind each step in the financial aid system.
Tags: become familiar, become familiar with, College Cost, college tuition, college tuition costs