<p>I was wondering how many full-ride scholarships are there available? Is it something very rare that only the very gifted get? Or are they more frequent than we think? And who gets them?</p>
<p>You just have to apply to the right schools. If you are a good-but-not-spectacular student, you can probably get close to a free ride at many schools. You just have to be willing to attend a small, private, lesser known LAC.</p>
<p>What about at the more elite colleges, like Harvard or Princeton, Stanford, etc.? Are there full-ride scholarships that don't come from the school?</p>
<p>well, at schools like HYPS, you can definitely get a full ride based on substantial need</p>
<p>Wait, doesn't Harvard offer a full-ride for students with incomes less than $40,000?</p>
<p>stanford also for students under 45000</p>
<p>yes, kissmekate, that is true. happened with my sister.</p>
<p>Harvard will not give you a full-ride scholarship. They might give you a ton of money in grants, but not 'scholarships.'</p>
<p>And even if you have an income of less than $40,000, I would expect to have to contribute at least something from your summer earnings, whatever savings you might have, etc.</p>
<p>It depends. For instance, Florida apparently has a load of money set aside for full ride scholarships to its universities.</p>
<ol>
<li>Bright Futures (tuition only)</li>
<li>Florida Opportunity Scholarship Program (full-ride: tuition + r&b)</li>
</ol>
<p>Bright Futures is based on merit, while FOSP is based on a number of things such as: whether or not the parents have an undergraduate degree, income, etc.</p>
<p>I qualified for Bright Futures and FOSP, so I will have a full-ride to college</p>
<p>(University of Florida)</p>
<p>Kissmekate, are you looking for need-based or merit-based?</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, for the full-ride-if-less-than-$40,000 type scholarships, what does that cover? Only tuition...?</p>
<p>What about the LAC's? Like Reed, Colby, or Whitman? Would they give full-ride scholarships to students whose income is less than $40,000?</p>
<p>Also, what about assets? My family has two houses, because last year my mom got inheritance money. Would that change anything? Or do they only count family income? Thanks!</p>
<p>Most schools that give need based financial aid do not give out "full rides" because there is an expectation that the student is gong to be an active participant in the financing of his/her education. This means there will be a student contribution from summer earnings and self help once the student is on campus in the forms or work-study and/or subsidized loans.</p>
<p>At Stanford:</p>
<p>Does the new policy affect my student contribution or self-help expectation?</p>
<p>A. No. **Students are still expected to contribute from their prior-year earnings (50% of after-tax income, minimum $1,700 for freshmen, $2,100 for all others) and from their own assets (35% of the current total value). Students are also expected to cover a self-help (student loan and/or work-study job) expectation of $5,500 for 2006-07. ** Some students from lower-income families will have a lower self-help expectation.</p>
<p>Princeton;</p>
<p>While Princeton has eliminated student loand, the student will still have a self help component in the form of a job and will still have an EFC where they will have to contribute from summer earnings.</p>
<p>Under Princeton’s financial aid policy student loans are not included in the initial financial aid award. However, student loans are available to help cover expenses beyond the standard student budget, or to replace a shortfall in expected summer or term earnings for aid recipients. Non-aid students may also consider taking a loan to assume responsibility for a portion of their expenses. In addition, parents can borrow to help cover their share of Princeton’s costs.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.princeton.edu/pr/aid/05/loans/%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu/pr/aid/05/loans/</a></p>
<p>Keep in mind that there will be other miscellaneous cost associated with attending college. These include: travel, books, computers, etc. which are not covered by the school.</p>
<p>Harvard states:</p>
<p>You will also have non-billed (out-of-pocket)nexpenses for books, personal and travel expenses — costs which will vary depending on your own
style and habits. For purposes of determining your eligibility for financial aid, we are using a combined book and personal expense allowance
of $2,795.</p>
<p>Student Contribution</p>
<p>We normally expect that incoming students willnearn money for college expenses by working during the summer. We believe a reasonable goal for
this summer in most cases is $1,500, or approximately $150 per week during the summer vacation period. (Summer expectations for upperclass
students are higher due to a longer summer working period.)</p>
<p>If you are not able to save enough from your summer earnings
to meet part or all of the expectation, it may be possible for you to borrow an additional amount.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, what about assets? My family has two houses, because last year my mom got inheritance money. Would that change anything? Or do they only count family income? Thanks!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Schools that give FA based on need (they use the CSS profile or their own forms will take income and assets into consideration when determining your EFC. In short, yes, the fact that your family has 2 houses and your mom got an inheritance will factor into your EFC.</p>
<p>It will help you to get an overview of financial aid information if you:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Use some of the resources pinned at the top of this board.</p></li>
<li><p>Read the "Financial aid paying for college" section of CC that you can link to from the menu on the left.</p></li>
<li><p>Check the financial aid sections of colleges that you're interested in.</p></li>
<li><p>Check the individual college boards here for information about what kind of financial aid people get. This is particularly helpful for checking the stats and ECs of students who do and don't get merit aid from specific colleges.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Can I add a plug for our program for low-income students? The description is at <a href="http://daniel.mitblogs.com/archives/2006/08/dont_miss-pell.html%5B/url%5D">http://daniel.mitblogs.com/archives/2006/08/dont_miss-pell.html</a>. In short, we are matching the Pell Grant for students who receive a Pell, meaning that for a family with Pell Grant, there are less loans and work as part of the financial aid package. And since we added the ability for Summer Contributions to be covered by outside scholarships, for students who arrive with Pell and outside funding, it is possible for them to have no loans, no work expectation, no summer contribution, and all grant (your "full ride", Kate).</p>
<p>barkowitz, thanks so much for letting us know about MITs Pell Matching Program. I just gave you a shameless plug on the parents forum :D</p>
<p>does anybody know of any universities at all that would offer a full ride to an average student...? 90 average, 30 ACT, etc.?</p>
<p>Residents of the state of New Mexico who graduate from an accredited HS or homeschool with a GPA of 3.0 or better get full tuition at any of the state's public universities. The Lottery Success Scholarship pays full tuition so long as minimum GPA (2.5, but UNM is considering raising it to 3.0) and courseload (13 credits per semester) is maintained for up to 4 years. </p>
<p>Of course, you do have to live in New Mexico. But it's a terrific deal!</p>