WINOOSKI — The Vermont Student Assistance Corp. recently unveiled Award Advisor — a free, ad-free app for iPhone and Android. The app helps students and families navigate one of the most complex decisions in a student’s education journey: understanding and comparing college financial aid offers.

Typically, college acceptance is accompanied by a financial aid package, detailed in an award letter. Each college award letter presents aid information differently, which can make it difficult to compare to other schools’ awards. Amid rising concerns over affordability, students across the country are often making life-changing financial decisions based upon confusing and inconsistent award letters.

Students and families often struggle to answer simple questions from their award letters:

• What is free money versus loans?
• What needs to be paid back?
• What is the actual cost after aid?

Award Advisor tackles this longstanding challenge, providing consistent, understandable, and comparable data. The app helps students compare college offers side-by-side and understand the true cost of higher education — so they can make confident, informed decisions.

“Understanding financial aid can feel like deciphering another language in a high-stakes environment,” said Patrick Leduc, VSAC vice president and chief operating officer.

“Award Advisor translates each letter into clear, comparable terms, showing what’s free money, what needs to be repaid, and your true cost of each school,” noted Leduc. “Award Advisor bridges the gap between complex award letters and actionable information, so families can make apples-to-apples comparisons about financial aid and focus on making the best decisions for their future.”

Students can view detailed breakdowns or simple side-by-side comparisons, export PDFs for discussions, and even model their own funds into the equation to see the full picture.

Leduc said the app is designed to be especially helpful for first-generation students and modest-income families, fostering informed kitchen table conversations about costs, obligations and tradeoffs.

“It can be a trusted resource at a critical moment, helping students make more informed decisions about college, with much less stress,” he said.

Award Advisor is also designed to help high school counselors and advisors interpret aid letters, eliminating manual award calculations and allowing them to focus on guidance and decision-making. Colleges benefit as well: students who understand their costs upfront are more likely to enroll with confidence, reducing misunderstandings and the risk of students deciding not to continue.

Students, families, and navigators can download Award Advisor from the App Store, Google Play, or at awardadvisor.org.