Some schools limit scholarships to citizens (or otherwise qualified residents) and use the FAFSA as a way to establish citizenship. If the student files a FAFSA, they are 'qualified for the grant or scholarship money. Some private scholarships do that too as it saves them having to go through the paperwork and make a determination.
It used to be more common but now that many states allow undocumented students to receive state funds (but not federal), not as many state programs require FAFSA any more. I think GA Zell Miller/Hope does, but Florida Bright Futures does not.
If a determination to not provide a merit scholarship is based in part on the student’s ability to pay full cost, than by definition it’s not a merit scholarship.
This is sometimes seen when a scholarship may be a full ride. In this case, the college wants the student to get any Pell grant available (or prove that they will not get a Pell grant) by doing FAFSA, so that the total discount does not exceed the cost of attendance.
@ucbalumnus I’ve got a Senior at Texas A&M, and FAFSA is required to be on file for most of her scholarships. They are merit only, state it specifically as part of the requirements, about FAFSA. These are TAMU merit scholarships & awards, not outside, not full ride, nothing to do with Pell Grant.
Every year on Aggie Parent pages, experienced parents urge new parents to submit it, because student will be looked over for many (but not all) if FAFSA isn’t on file.
My student doesn’t qualify for any financial aid or grants. She didn’t even receive Covid relief funds, when her sibling at another school did.
Merit scholarships are, in reality, tuition discounts used to entice high stat kids (or those with qualities/accomplishments highly desirable to that college) to enroll. The student’s ability to pay won’t impact their ability to receive merit money.
When my D was at UMD (2014-2018) we filled out the FAFSA every year, even though we were full pay. Why? The simple reason was that you never know what may happen over the course of 4 years and it was pretty simple (for us) to fill out the form each year.
Then, when my D went to Grad school she continued to fill out the FAFSA and, to our surprise, she was awarded a local government scholarship for her first year and a grant for her second year. Not large amounts of money, but it did help.
There is a discussion going on now regarding a family who did not apply for aid the first year because they knew that they would not get aid. They are now planning for subsequent years because they need aid.
The school’s policy is if you don’t apply for aid during the application cycle, you are not eligible for aid in the upcoming years (if you have a change in your financial situation, there is limited aid). Sounds like the school may not be financially feasible for years 2, 3, 4.
Should you decide not to apply for aid (even though you are not eligible now), stuff happens. Make sure the aid will be there should you need it
That was the Tufts discussion and they are need aware and it makes sense - because perhaps they’d have turned the student down if they knew how much they needed (depending on how much that is).
In general, it makes sense to do a FAFSA. It’s not hard - and it can only help, likely can’t hurt.
You can always file FAFSA after the first year (and even at the end of the first year). The school doesn’t have to give you its aid, but they have to consider you for federal aid (Pell, loans, SEOG)