Schools have certain packaging philosophies, and outside scholarships can affect packaging based on the particular philosophy. For example, I used to work at a school that promised to cover the “average” cost of tuition minus the family’s EFC with grant aid for students who applied for aid before the preferred filing deadline. We packaged the student, and then we had to adjust the package if a scholarship was received. In this case, the outside scholarship would simply reduce the institutional grant … leaving no net gain for the student. Although it may seem unfair on its face, the purpose of the policy was to allow as many students as possible to have tuition covered. Schools have to make tough choices when trying to stretch limited dollars.