1. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions for executing a web-based application for providing a multi-level financial aid system featuring integrated and automated on-line financial aid features specific to a given educational institution to a user, wherein said web-based application comprises: a first information collection service for obtaining requested personal and financial information about a given student; a financial aid estimation service for evaluating the information obtained via said first information collection service and generating a predicted amount of monetary aid that may be available for the student to use for education-related expenses at a given educational institution; a federal link service for receiving an electronic copy of an Institutional Student Information Report (ISIR) document for the given student; a service for comparing information obtained via said first information collection service and the given student's ISIR document; a service for determining an authorized amount of financial aid the given student is eligible for at the given educational institution; and a service for providing an award notice to the given student based on the determination of authorized financial aid eligibility.