In the Financial Aid package awarded to S, it just says for the academic year 2015-16. It’s probably common practice. Nothing is mentioned about subsequent years. So all students have to apply each year for FA? And what are typical requirements to get the FA in later years, GPA of 3.5 or higher etc? I am new to this process and trying to get an idea ahead of time. Any relevant info is appreciated.
look on the website for your son’s current college. Look at the financial aid section…for returning students. This will tell you what you need to do for need based aid. Just make sure you check next January, as requirements do sometimes change.
Need based aid is usually applied for annually…based on that year’s financial information…which could change for you!
Need based aid packages usually state that they are for one academic year only.
For merit aid, there is usually a GPA threshold for continuation. Your son’s award should tell you what it takes to have merit aid continued and if this is renewable or not…and for how long…if he has merit aid. Some schools don’t require any forms for renewal of merit aid. You need to check.
If you have a question, call the school.
This is kind of a broad question. For need-based financial aid, you have to fill out again the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile each year (similar to what you would have had to do for this year). If your family’s financial circumstances (income, assets) changes dramatically in subsequent years then any need-based aid may change.
For scholarships that are based on GPA or some other academic achievement, you would have to know which scholarship it is and the school’s website will say what kind of GPA they want. Some scholarships are only given to freshmen while others are renewable for all four years. The only way to know which is which is to look at the school’s website for an explanation or description of those scholarships.
“So all students have to apply each year for FA?”
YES
“And what are typical requirements to get the FA in later years, GPA of 3.5 or higher etc?”
FA awards are based solely on family NEED on a year to year basis. If you win the Lottery one year you probably wont qualify for FA the following year. As long as the student is in good standing with the University- i.e. not on Academic probation, i.e. flunking classes. then you can reapply each year. You have to check to see what the required minimum GPA is for students to be allowed to continue. Usually it needs to be above a 1.75
This doesn’t sound right. At least as I understand the term, financial aid can be a combination of need-based and merit aid. Need-based aid generally is NOT dependent on academic success, as long as the student maintains academic qualification to remain enrolled. Many merit awards do have GPA requirements.
Of course there’s a minimum academic performance threshold for need-based FA. It’s not nearly as high as that for a merit-based scholarship.
A FA aid student has to pass a full-time course load each semester. I.e., enough credits per semester to be regarded a full-time student. You need check with the school on what is considered an adequate grade. It’s probably a fairly low bar.
I didn’t say that there wasn’t a minimum academic performance threshold for need-based financial aid.
Standard GPA for keeping a scholarship/remaining eligible for financial aid is a 3.0. This may not apply to all schools, but it has been the case in nearly every one of my friends’ packages.
For merit aid, perhaps, but not for need-based financial aid.
Merit based scholarships are typically for all four years as long as you remain a full time student with a GPA of 3.0. But, definitely check with the FA office. FAFSA needs to be filled out every year, which really shouldn’t have much to do with your merit scholarships.
Some merit scholarships also throw in other requirements too. The most prestigious scholarship at the school that I attended had a community service requirement too. It’s really something that has to be checked up on. The 3.0 GPA is the most common I’ve heard of though, but schools also vary in how strictly they enforce that. Some of them will give you a semester or two of probation but some of them won’t.
Its not just GPA; it’s also credit hours. I know a student who dropped a course to keep up the GPA, but ended up haven’t insufficient credit hours to be considered a full-time student.
That’s true too. There’s also the whole issue of credits completed/credits attempted ratio (it has a name that I don’t remember). I’ve seen a few stories from people who got screwed that way; they dropped so many classes over the course of their degree program that, even though they weren’t necessarily below full-time during the current semester, their financial aid got cut because they failed and dropped so many classes that they fell below the threshold of credit hours completed. This is more something that comes up with need-based aid though; if you’re struggling that badly chances are any merit scholarships that you may have started with are gone.