S1 who is beginning his sophomore year in a private college, where he is receiving merit aid of $25k per year, and S2 is a senior in HS. S2 is a NMSF and has strong grades and SAT’s, etc.; he’s focusing also on private colleges that offer merit aid. Based on EFC, S1 has not been deemed eligible for any need-based aid either as a freshman or sophomore. I expect that, for S2’s first two years in college, when we are paying for two kids in college, S2 will be eligible for some need-based aid. But I also expect that he will not be eligible for any need-based aid his last two years when he is our only child in college. Thus, we would like to make sure he gets merit aid (which lasts all four years) rather than just need-based aid (which would last only the first two years). Do colleges that offer merit aid award it before looking at need-based aid? Or is it the opposite? Or do colleges vary in how they handle this? Any advice from anyone on how to address this?
This varies by college.
usually BEFORE.
Merit is usually determined by the Admissions dept, as a way to get a top student.
So, merit is usually applied FIRST. then when the FA dept makes the FA pkg, they see the merit award, apply it to “need” and then add what they can.
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he’s focusing also on private colleges that offer merit aid.
I expect that, for S2’s first two years in college, when we are paying for two kids in college, S2 will be eligible for some need-based aid.
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Maybe, maybe not. Much depends on the “expected family contribution” and how much he gets in merit first.
are the privates CSS schools? Then they might include home equity or something else.
And CSS schools don’t do a 50/50 split. They do a 60/60 split according to their calculations.
What is your EFC with one in college?
My D got merit scholarships from school before and after the FA offer with need based aids. So it not only varies with school, it varies with scholarship too. Nevertheless, it does not matter which one come out first, they will adjust the aid package accordingly. My D’s FA award letters have been revised 5 times last year (freshmen) and 6 times this year (sophomore). Whenever a merit aid is added to the FA, the need is reduced and the need based aid reduced. In my D’s case, some scholarships got offset by a grant decrease while others offset by loan decrease. Note that there are also merit aids with a need component too. So for that, they would have to look at your need first.
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My D got merit scholarships from school before and after the FA offer with need based aids. So it not only varies with school, it varies with scholarship too. Nevertheless, it does not matter which one come out first, they will adjust the aid package accordingly.
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Right.
Sometimes the merit offers that come after the FA offer are “leftover” merit awards (sometimes endowed), that are “re-offered” after they were initially offered to others who declined the school. I know of a student who got a second, bigger merit award in late May, because the initial recipient declined the school. The new winner’s FA pkg was adjusted substantially after receiving this new bigger award.
But really, merit awards that are designed to entice a high stats student to enroll, are typically awarded by Admissions and come with (or soon after) the acceptance letters.
There’s a psychology to this: the earlier you can get the merit known and “in hand” to the receiver, the easier it is to get them “mentally locked in” to your school. Not every school has “figured that out,” but a number sure have.
Some schools have figured out that if they hand you a good sized merit award early in the app season (say by Nov/Dec), a number of students will just stop applying elsewhere. Done! …and the school’s yield is protected.
Thanks. Our EFC with one in college is 50-55k. So adding in a Stafford loan that leaves us with no need-based aid. But with two in college, it looks like our EFC for each would be about 25k To be clear, my concern is that if S2 gets need-based rather than merit aid, he’d be fine the first two years, but then in trouble the last two when he’s our only kid in college (I imagine he could seek merit aid those last two years, but, at the time of enrollment, there’d be no guarantee of getting that). Thus (am I wrong?) it seems to me we want to make sure he gets merit award (S1 got 20-25K merit awards from several schools, and am thinking S2 will probably fare similarly), since that’s generally locked in for all four years.
If there is going to be a huge fluctuation in your family contribution calculated…you do want to seek merit aid which is not need dependent.
For Profile schools, the family contribution for each kiddo when there are two is 60% of the amount with one. So if your current single EFC is $50,000, your EFC per kiddo would likely be $30,000 or so, not $25,000.
And add to that…if the schools don’t meet full need guaranteed, there is NO guarantee that your current college kid’s aid will be adjusted one cent…and there is no guarantee your second kiddo,will,have need met when he enrolls.
The merit awards are pretty likely to be the first awarded money at most schools that give merit awards, so your strategy should work. Even if the award is a larger one that comes later (such as after a scholarship weekend) it will usually displace any previously awarded financial aid. (They’re re-do the FA award letter.)