This is our first time sending a child to college, and I have a question about FAFSA.
My son is applying to 3 OOS public universities. He will get guaranteed merit scholarships from one of them, and then we are hoping for merit scholarships from the other two. We aren’t expecting any need based aid from state schools.
We sold a condo last year that we had originally purchased in cash. We doubled our money on it in 5 years, and that sale essentially doubled our income for last year on our tax returns.
Should we still send FAFSA to all 3 schools where he is applying or will having a large income last year hurt his chances of being considered for merit scholarships??
Some merit scholarships have a need component, but some do not. At many schools, the merit scholarships are awarded by the admissions office and the financial aid paperwork (like FAFSA) goes to the FA office, so ideally the admissions office has no idea if there is need or not.
If there is need component, the scholarship will usually require the FAFSA or other forms to be filled out.
I would call and ask the universities if A) they grant $$ without financial need (some don’t) and B) if they do grant $$ without financial need do you need to still fill out the FAFSA.
My understanding is that some schools may require FAFSA for merit scholarship recipients only to rule out whether the student is Pell-eligible. But, many schools will not require that. I’d check with the schools (first websites and then the financial aid office if it isn’t clear) before bothering to fill out the FAFSA.
@oboemom65
I have yet to encounter a single school that REQUIRES a fafsa for strictly merit awards. Can you please let me know wnat schools you’ve found that have this requirement? My daughter’s highly experienced college counselor (20 years as a dean of admission, AO and a financial aid officer) said you shouldn’t have to just for merit. Thanks!
One of my sons’ colleges required that we submit the FAFSA for his sophomore year for his nearly-full ride scholarship. I assume they went that route because of the Pell Grant mentioned above- it probably allows universities to stretch their scholarship dollars.
My oldest kid is on a full ride and we’ve never filed a FAFSA for him.
Although not a school, I believe the State of GA requires FAFSA for Hope or Zell MIller, which are merit scholarships. Florida used to for BF but no longer does.
Wyoming required FAFSA and many of the scholarships are merit only. Maybe if you pushed it they wouldn’t require it, but I filed it every year, even for those where we didn’t qualify for need aid.
Not possible to require FAFSA just to attend as some students aren’t eligible to file. Not many schools with 100% American citizens (service academies are likely the closest).
A (very) few schools give a $500 or $1000 bonus just for filing by a certain date. I think they have close to a 100% filing compliance.
@PepperJo my kids went to Boston university (2003-2007) and Santa Clara University (2006-2010). t the time they went both school required the FAFSA and Profile freshman year only for before they would disburse merit aid.
@thumper1
Thank you. BU is on our list,but they are need aware and not need blind. We will not check off applying for FA there. Their website says most merit is automatically awarded with no special application required (except for their most exclusive). Need based awards do require the fafsa and CSS though.
@twoinanddone
When applying to our GA schools this year, the notion that a family was required to share the financials in order to be eligible for Hope bothered me. After some research I found a reference to an alternate form which was more of a verification of residency / citizenship. I have heard it left, right and center from the school that the FAFSA is required for HOPE/Zell state merit scholarships. I know there’s a lot about this process that doesn’t make sense, but this one bugged enough to look around.
If your coworker paid full cost for his kids then he was NOT required to fill out FASFA. There aren’t any schools that require you to fill out FAFSA for admission. ZERO.
Bama doesn’t require FAFSA for merit. Merit is assured for stats. What are his stats?
It looks like Clemson has some pure merit and some need-based merit. But I can tell you from going thru ourselves…Clemson has a higher OOS cost than most publics and their merit isn’t generous…so even with merit, it would be similar to full OOS at another school.
VT is awful with merit. Check their website for what they require…but either way, awful with merit.
As an applicant you don’t care if a school is need aware or need blind. If you like the school, the NPC suggests it’s affordable, and it’s a good match for you, you should apply. Aware/blind just affects the chance of admission (up or down), and then usually only if you’re on the cusp.