<p>I think you are mixing up need and merit based aid. For us, the "full ride" was merit based, but the rule stood that my D's total scholarships could not exceed what the college counted as the cost of attendence. For my other D, merit based scholarships could not reduce the parent contribution, which I object to--the kid earned it. It had nothing to do with need.</p>
<p>If the student's aid package includes federal loans, federal grants or federal work-study, I can understand the government saying it will not provide this federal aid in excess of a student's need.</p>
<p>However, if the student's package were entirely institutional aid, I would think the institution could do whatever it liked with its own money.</p>
<p>Do students ever get aid packages that don't include federal money?</p>
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Do students ever get aid packages that don't include federal money?
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<p>Probably! However, it seems that a student's family would need to be well above the limits for fianncial aid, and have a EFC above the COA. In such cases, any merit money should directly reduce the EFC.</p>
<p>One confusing factor is that a lot of "merit aid" is only merit in name as it is repackaged need-based aid. Awarding named scholarships to low-income students is a nice way to kill two birds with one stone.</p>
<p>It is a fact that each school sets its own policies. Brown, for instance, won't release anyone from the expected summer earnings, even if a student has outside scholarships that covers work-study and summer earnings. The outside award will simply reduce the school grant.</p>
<p>Xiggi is right. DS got merit aid from his university. Our EFC exceeded the COA. However, he also got an unsubsidized Stafford loan (because we completed the FAFSA).</p>
<p>My kids attended LACs which had very different policies regarding tuition payments for study abroad. One school allows students to choose any overseas program, pay for it separately and then pay a small fee to the college to cover administrative fees. The other school required that we pay the full comprehensive fee (tuition, room & board, and fees) for the semester she was away, and then they covered the cost of her overseas program except for the airfare which we also had to pay for. We felt this was unfair since the comprehensive fee was in the neighborhood of $20,000 and the program only cost around $11,000. It seemed to us that given that difference, the college should pay the airfare. They refused. Also the program did not include food and I had to fight with the college and ultimately negotiate a very small deduction from my payment to cover her food. The whole process left us feeling ripped off and as a result, I never did and never will donate a dime.</p>
<p>Puzzled, I'm with you on that. Paying full tuition when you're not using any on campus services is a real rip off. D's college and many others do that too!</p>
<p>I might add that when my third child toured colleges I always asked what the policy on payment for study abroad was and it was the rare admissions officer who knew the answer.</p>
<p>Puzzled88 - My daughter goes to a private LAC and their study abroad payment policy is in between the two you have described. I am just finding out about this because she will be abroad next fall. At her school, you have to pay the full tuition, room, and board you would normally pay if you want credit for the semester abroad. (If you have enough credits and do not need the courses abroad for your major, you can withdraw for a semester and pay directly to the study abroad program, but that is not the case for my daughter.) The college then pays all study abroad fees, including a stipend for reasonable plane fare from the students home. In the case of the program my D will attend, meals are not included so she will receive a stipend for that too. The total cost will still be lower than what we are paying the school, but the school does cover more than what you described. On the other hand, another parent from my D's school told me that his child had attended a study abroad program that cost MORE than then normal tuition, room, and board, and the school had covered the total fee.</p>
<p>MotherOfTwo - The study abroad payment policy you describe is not only more fair but also better because the stipends for airfare and food are clear policies, not something for which you have to negotiate. I was interested to hear that you are just now learning about it because you daughter is about to go abroad. I would encourage any parent whose child intends to study abroad while s/he is in college to investigate the payment policies of the schools they are considering before they decide to enroll. Clearly the policies will have different ramifications for students receiving financial aid and those paying full tuition. Our daughter's semester abroad cost us considerably more than a semester at her already very expensive college.</p>