Students and families confront a detrimental lack of information and transparency when making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives: paying for college. The report analyzed thousands of financial aid award letters and found not only that financial aid is insufficient to cover the cost of college for many students, but also that award letters lack consistency and transparency. As a result, it is exceedingly difficult for students and families to make a financially-informed college decision. While solutions for tackling the cost barrier may be complex, solutions to improve award letter terminology and formatting are well within reach. After a thorough qualitative review using a subset of 515 award letters from unique institutions, seven key findings emerged: (1) Confusing Jargon and Terminology; (2) Omission of the Complete Cost; (3) Failure to Differentiate Types of Aid; (4) Misleading Packaging of Parent PLUS Loans; (5) Vague Definitions and Poor Placement of Work-Study; (6) Inconsistent Bottom Line Calculations; and (7) No Clear Next Steps. Based on these findings, the report presents seven policy recommendations, calling on federal, state, and institutional parties to create systems-level change. [The report is a collaboration between New America and uAspire.]