<p>My family has a very large yearly income (2 higher income professionals)--and lots of cash assets--would never qualify for need based award? But for a merit award (to get me to go to the school...)--do I need to fill out the FAFSA form?. I am getting two different answers a. you need to fill it out for any Merit vs b. if they see the family income and assets on the FAFSA no one will ever offer me anything? appreciate reply--thanks</p>
<p>Yes, there are indeed colleges, universities, and state/local governments that require all students who are considered for merit-based scholarships to file the FAFSA. The only way to find out if any of your colleges/universities require it for this purpose, is to pick up the phone and call them.</p>
<p>Steve…</p>
<p>Most schools that give merit do not ask for FAFSA, however some do. None of the schools that my kids applied to ever asked for FAFSA…and we’ve never filled out FAFSA.</p>
<p>If you go to each school’s scholarship webpage, it will tell you if FAFSA is needed.</p>
<p>It seems (to me) that the schools that ask for FAFSA are schools that want to see if state aid, federal aid, etc will cover a chunk of COA so the student doesn’t need a big merit scholarship. Perhaps there are some schools that want to avoid awarding merit to Bill Gate’s kids, but having a large income doesn’t seem to deter most schools from awarding merit. </p>
<p>Some schools have some endowed merit scholarships where the donor has specified that need has to be a considered component. So, perhaps those schools want a FAFSA submitted so that they can see who can be considered for those scholarships to free up the merit dollars for those who couldn’t be considered.</p>
<p>Which schools are you considering? Are you a junior or senior? if you’re a senior, then many schools’ scholarship deadlines have long passed.</p>
<p>Agree with happymom. Many schools require the FAFSA to be filed as part of the overall FA process, regardless of whether a student will qualify for need-based aid. There are a few odd merit scholarships that do take financial need into consideration, but the vast majority of merit scholarships are simply that…based on merit. You won’t be hurting your chances for merit scholarships by filing FAFSA, but for many schools you will lose your chance for merit aid if you don’t file. As happymom said, check with the individual school(s) to see if they require it, but I wouldn’t worry about FAFSA hurting you by filing.</p>