I looked around CC and wasn’t able to find an answer to this specific question. Basically, I want to know if need-based financial aid could increase each year if grades increase by a good amount. This is if everything else remains constant (assets, income, etc). I just want to know if solely a higher GPA can result in a higher financial aid determination for the next academic year since they do take GPA when calculating need-based aid for admissions but for continuing students it might be different.
Need based aid is based on your parent income and assets…not your grades.
Who told you they took GPA into consideration for “need based aid for admissions”?
There are some colleges that manage enrollment by offering more need based aid to more desirable students they accept. But these schools do not meet full need for all anyway.
Next year, you will apply for need based aid using 2018 tax year information…not your grades.
Need based aid is based on your parents income and assets, as noted above. GPA is not considered.
Thank you for the information.
@thumper1 I thought it was like general knowledge that freshman applicants’ GPAs (from high school) are considered when determining their aid packages after they’ve been accepted.
Wait then can merit scholarships (depending on the individual scholarship) increase every year according to GPA?
Someone was telling me someone got like a few thousand extra, for example, their second year after getting good grades. I can probably assume it’s merit?
No…this isn’t generally true at all.
In terms of merit aid…this is awarded based on your stats, and the criteria for renewal is clear on the award. In most cases, THAT merit award won’t increase regardless of your college grades. You might be eligible for departmental scholarships in subsequent years, but you will need to apply.
The person who got more aid that second year…maybe their family income went DOWN at a college that meets full need and that is why they got more aid. Or maybe they got an additional departmental scholarship.
Are you counting on getting more aid from your college in subsequent years? If so…assume you won’t and if you do, it will be a happy surprise.
Plus…
Judging from your other thread, your college GPA isn’t tippy top…so don’t count on an increase in merit aid. You also need to be very careful that you meet Satisfactory Academic Progress…SAP…at your college because if you don’t, you won’t receive any aid…at all…until you do. One W and one failing grade…just be careful.
There are schools that actively use need within merit or merit within need in their financial aid distribution. My school did for years.
There are merit awards that one has to have financial need to get. Some of them were large enough that they could exceed the financial aid package and the person gets more than need dictates. At many schools, those are distributed by Admissions, regardless of need and the Financial Aid Office adjusts the need package accordingly. Adjustments are necessary because certain government grants and subsidies can only be given to meet need, and HAVE to be reduced as need is reduced by other money.
But a college can often use their own funds as they please. They don’t have to do Dollar for Dollar reductions with those. And they can have any methodology and procedure in dealing with those.
So, yes, it is possible that grades come into the picture for some financial-aid/merit hybrid awards.
It’s rare to get more money from college as you become upperclassmen from financial aid. Most schools expect their students to shoulder increasing amounts of the college cost each year. The costs nearly always goes up each year. There are some colleges and some awards that have given upper class men money awards for accomplishments but it’s not that common and you can’t count on it. I absolutely do not recommend anyone to count on those things that could happen. The downside consequences are too dire if you have to count on such windfalls
Thank you for the above information.
At my school, there is a policy that ensures that previous financial aid amounts will not be reduced the subsequent year. Obviously, I will increasingly shoulder some costs but that’s the policy.
As for the grades the previous semester, I’ve dealt with that situation and this is a separate question.