Financial aid is any form of funding — grants, scholarships, loans, or work-study — provided to students to help cover the cost of university education.
Financial aid encompasses everything that reduces the net cost of university education for a student. It includes:
Grants and scholarships: Money that does not need to be repaid. Awarded based on financial need, academic merit, or both.
Loans: Money borrowed to pay for education, repaid (with interest, or sometimes at zero interest) after graduation.
Work-study programmes: Arrangements where students work part-time, often on campus, with earnings going toward tuition or living expenses.
The total "financial aid package" a student receives from a university is the combination of all these elements. The "net cost" is the total cost of attendance minus all grants and scholarships received.
For Pakistani students from underserved districts, financial aid is not a supplementary consideration — it is the central question. Whether attending LUMS, IBA, Habib, or a US university is realistic depends entirely on what financial aid is available. Apply for every scholarship you qualify for simultaneously: HEC need-based, PEEF, your provincial scholarship, and any university-specific scholarship. Daakhla helps students identify and apply for every source of aid available to them.
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