Academic Prizes and Financial Aid

<p>My son won $200 from his school for achievement in Latin. The check is made out to him. Is that a scholarship that must be reported to his school (along with the other scholarships he won -- which will be paid directly to the college and will be deducted from his grant aid), or is it a prize that he can keep without reporting?</p>

<p>Unless the check and any additional documentation says it must be for educational expenses that must be submitted to the college, you don't need to report it. Since the check was made out to him, it is money for him to keep without reporting. I had the same situation this year. $200 is nice though. It'll cover about a textbook and a half! =)</p>

<p>Wow...my daughter won $500 from one foundation and $1000 from another. Both are checks made out directly to her. Was also wondering if she had to report those to her school and reduce the wonderful financial aid package in which she was offered.</p>

<p>I disagree with Proud Husky. These scholarships need to be reported to the colleges.</p>

<p>Did the school call it a scholarship, or say in ANY way that it was meant for educational purposes? If not, then it is simply an award that can be used to anything, and not a scholarship.</p>

<p>First, is your child a senior? If yes, that money should be going to college/education expenses. Unless the school wants to know what happened to the money, you do not need to report it. However, on the taxes, you have to include the money in the reporting under savings (hopefully he will save that.).</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback everyone. I will call the college and let you know what the financial aid office says. Yes, he is a senior, and he wants to put the $200 dollars into the fund he's accumulating to buy his laptop. So, it will be used for educational purposes.</p>