<p>My daughter received a $27K merit scholarship from a school whose annual tuition is $53K. Our EFC is expected to be around $30K. How does the merit scholarship affect what we receive in need-based aid? In other words, does the merit aid cancel out the need based aid we expect to receive</p>
<p>Pretty much…</p>
<p>Her total aid package will reflect what need she has left AFTER all merit awards have been taken into consideration.</p>
<p>COA is $53K minus $30 EFC leaves $23K in need. Her merit scholarship covers her entire need plus a portion of her EFC. Thus she has no more need and won’t get any additional need-based aid. (Except she will still be eligible for a $5500 unsubsidized federal student loan–provided you file FAFSA–which she can take out if you wish her to help pay the EFC.)</p>
<p>My daughter received a $27K merit scholarship from a school whose annual tuition is $53K. Our EFC is expected to be around $30K.</p>
<p>$53k = COA</p>
<h2>$30k = EFC</h2>
<p>$23k = “determined need”</p>
<p>So, your D has been given a merit scholarship of $27k. That gets applied to her “need” first. Since her merit is about $5k larger than your EFC, your family contribution will drop a bit.</p>
<p>The good news…if this is a school that doesn’t meet need, then you’re probably in a better situation anyway. Otherwise, you may have been gapped and have to pay a lot more than EFC.</p>
<p>Also…if this is a school that would have put about $8k in student loans and work-study in the FA package, then you won’t have that, either.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that most schools do not meet need…and the ones that do meet need often put loans and work study in the FA package (so you don’t receive all “free money” to meet need.)</p>
<p>If you want, your D can still borrow $5500 in unsub student loans to further reduce what you have to pay out of pocket. </p>
<p>If you want to further reduce your EFC, then your D needs to apply to schools that would either give her larger merit scholarships (such as full tuition) or to schools that have lower COAs.</p>