Anyone know if the FAFSA is needed to be filled out for scholarships to be renewed?
You need to check with the place awarding the scholarship.
At some schools, yes. We have to fill it out each year for my D’s scholarship to be renewed, even though it is a merit award.
Check with the school. They will let you know.
Most/almost all scholarships will require you to file the FAFSA to get your scholarship renewed. The logic is that you may qualify for federal aid – why give you their money if you can get it elsewhere?
^ I don’t think that’s true. Neither of my Ds had to file after the first year for their scholarships (and only one had to file then). Two different colleges in different states. I do agree with why they would want you to file, but once they know you’re no where near Pell eligible…
It’s true in my experience, but of course not all. It is also the justification I have heard from numerous major scholarship directors. They want to see that students are doing their part to get aid before they start handing out money.
There are also some scholarships with need components (both third party and at schools). If your EFC shoots up too high, you can lose the scholarship. Another reason for requiring students file (most of my scholarships are, at least in part, need-based).
My comment relates to your saying Most/Almost All. I had Ds at two different schools in different parts of the country. You have experience at one school. Your language was a little strong. I agree that scholarships that have a need component would require it.
I was talking about outside scholarships, not institutional.
Ah. That could very well be true. I have no idea if that’s what the OP meant.
I can say that D’s school requires her to fill out the FAFSA every year renew her merit aid. The logic is as stated above - if she were to qualify for a PELL grant, that would be additional money the school would receive (as it would apply to her scholarship, not be extra above and beyond her scholarship). Every school sets their own policies in this regard.
I will admit to griping that I’d be happy to just send in pay stubs to show there’s no way we would qualify for federal aid, but then again if that’s all I have to do for her to keep her significant merit aid it’s well worth it.
I have one at a school that requires the FAFSA for merit aid. It states that as a requirement on the web. The other is at a school that I don’t know about requiring it for merit (probably not as the school has a lot of internationals) but I do know that the school waits for the FAFSA before processing the awards. Last summer we were having trouble with the FSA ID so our FAFSA validation was delayed. Nothing was processed before the FAFSA, but I think I could have called and said we weren’t filing if we weren’t going to file.
Outside scholarship, if not managed by the school, would not even see the FAFSA info that is submitted to the school. For the scholarships my D received from school, the big one has no need component (as it was awarded at admission before FAFSA submission) while the smaller departmental one does. Whenever there is a need component, they need the FAFSA.
The biggest “outside scholarship” organization in my community requires a copy of the FAFSA as part of the application process.