<p>D was recently accepted to a small LAC. The acceptance letter from admissions says she has been awarded a scholarship for X amount. However, when the Financial Aid Letter arrived, the scholarship amount is reflected less (2K/year less) than what was reflected in the acceptance letter.</p>
<p>Has anyone else ever had this problem? and if so how did you handle it?</p>
<p>Are we wrong to think that the right thing to do by the college is to honor what was awarded in the acceptance letter?</p>
<p>We haven’t had that problem, but the obvious first step is to call or e-mail the school and ask for an explanation of the discrepancy. It may be a simple mistake.</p>
<p>We have contacted the school and are awaiting a response.</p>
<p>Is the financial aid letter broken down in to 2 semesters? My son got 8000 for one school but the financial aid award gave 4000 per semester. Same with the loans.</p>
<p>The need based financial aid letters won’t come out until March or April, after you fill out the FAFSA in January. I am guessing the OP is talking about merit scholarships. At this point, merit scholarships should be clarified with the admissions office. The financial aid office will come into play as you fill out the FAFSA and whatever else the school requires for the need based aid.</p>
<p>^^ Yes, we also found discrepancies in various communications from D’s college. Not uncommon at this stage of the game, since you have two different departments working on hundreds or thousands of applicants and admitted students. I can’t imagine the paperwork nightmare at colleges this time of year!</p>
<p>OP, since you have it in writing that your D was awarded the scholarship, one quick phone call should take care of this.</p>
<p>And congratulations to your D!</p>
<p>Ada, it is possible that the scholarship amount increased this year from what was awarded last year to a student with similar stats to DD, so there was an error in the second letter for that reason. For example, my son was awarded a scholarship that was 1,000 less the year before only because the sticker price of tuition went up by that amount! The bottom line was going to be the same to me his freshman year (ie: tuition increase of 1,000, and scholarship increase of 1,000). </p>
<p>It could just be that one of the letters was an error. My son was sent a letter about a scholarship that gave an incorrect date as to when he needed to notify the school as to his decision about whether he was going to attend or not attend their school. My son first contacted his GC and the GC thought it was a bit odd. He then contacted the school and a new corrected letter was mailed.</p>
<p>I posed a question like this a year or 2 ago. Most responding to my query said that any amount they promise is good, and that a school should not be held to their written promise. Some thought it was greedy of me to expect them to honor their written offer exactly as it was written. Some were confused on the difference between a full tuition scholarship compared to a full ride. Some felt a scholarship offer is a gift- forgetting that conditions must be met to get it. Some had never even heard of a stipend for the student. I think opinions here are well-meaning, but some are more informed than others, depending on the subject.
Personally I don’t agree with that advice, but there you go.</p>
<p>My advice to OP would be for student or parent to call Admiss office, explain the difference and ask for an explanation. And if after that, the school is still a serious contender, then get the official offer in writing before committing.</p>
<p>I would think the figure from the FA office would carry the day, but call.</p>
<p>^^ For need-based aid, FA would carry the day. But merit scholarships are awarded by Admissions, so I’d think they will have the final say here.</p>
<p>Thanks, for the responses. We are still awaiting for a response from Admissions. Phone calls were made to Financial Aid and Admissions last week. This is a merit award for a Jan. start transfer student. The Financial letter reflects what we already know about our financial aid amount. I can understand the busy-ness of Admissions at this point in time. However, we are hoping that they do honor the amount in the Admissions letter. Though it seems small, it would be $7k less overtime in a student loan. We had already solidify what would be needed to fill our gap. And, of course my daughter already has proudly told her friends and relatives the news. This is the school my daughter has already decided on.</p>