<p>I've been given a free ride, including room and board, to a state school-- which is awesome! I'm waiting to accept until I hear if I got another scholarship at a different school, but either way, I'm going to college for free or something awfully close.</p>
<p>I'm assuming that I also will get some outside scholarships. What happens to those now? If I've already got a free ride, am I forced to decline them or can i still take them for expenses, supplies, books, etc. Is there some sort of cutoff? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Are these are all merit scholarships you are talking about or is some of it need based? Generally merit scholarships reduce need and any need based aid may be reduced or eliminated. If they are all merit, it will depend on the terms of the scholarships. You should get a sheet of paper explaining the terms. If not, you would need to contact the organization that awards the scholarship. Remember that scholarships/grants that exceed the cost of tuition and mandatory fees, books and supplies will be taxable income to you.</p>
<p>Usually “free ride scholarships” do not cover the entire COA for a school, so usually you can keep on collecting outside scholarships until you meet COA.</p>
<p>COA includes “other” costs…such as books, transportation, and personal expenses. these costs usually are about $3k - 5k more than tuition, room, and board. </p>
<p>You might also ask your school for a technical expense addition to your COA to allow for the purchase of a computer.</p>
<p>Re: taxes…since those amounts are taxable to you (not your parents), typically, you won’t have to pay much, if anything, as long as your overall income isn’t much.</p>