How do colleges handle external scholarships?

Paying for College
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<p>Starting a new thread to help consolidate financial aid policies and formulas of different colleges. This question takes some research--you never see this information posted on web sites and usually have to ask, "How do you handle outside scholarships? Do you reduce your need and/or merit scholarships by that same amount, or according to another formula?" The ideal situation is that the college stacks any external awards onto the amount they have already awarded.</p>

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Unfortunately, your “ideal situation” can only occur if the school “gapped” you with the original aid package. If there is a gap then yes, your merit scholarship can be used for the gap and “stacked onto” the amount they have already awarded. I would not call receiving a need-based award with a significant gap an “ideal situation,” however.</p>

<p>If the school fully met your need with the original package there are Federal rules they have to follow in applying additional merit aid - generally it can be used to reduce subsidized loans and work/study before reducing grants, but all need-based aid would have to be replaced with merit aid before it could be used for your EFC.</p>

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<p>I am hoping to compile a specific description of how individual colleges handle external scholarship awards–including what components of their award package (work/study, loans, grants, summer earnings expectations, merit awards) they reduce and by what formula–for example: </p>

<p>Princeton only awards need-based grants and work/study, and has a summer earnings expectation. There is a one-time allowance of $3K for a computer purchase. After that, Princeton first reduces work/study expectation ($2900/yr), then summer earnings ($1500 for incoming frosh, $2500 for sophomores and juniors), then their need-based grants, dollar for dollar after the $3000 allowance.</p>

<p>This will help all of us with students who are debating how much effort to put into garnering external awards, to find out which colleges are more generous in handling these. Some colleges essentially take back their own awards (some even do this with their merit awards when the student’s combined internal and external awards exceed COA, for example), so if this is where your applicant wants to go, an effort for external awards may not be worth it. Some take back a percentage and some take back dollar for dollar. Some make an initial allowance and some don’t.</p>

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<p>I have to disagree with this, MOST college websites have a section or FAQ on their FA website about how they treat outside scholarships. For instance, your example of P:</p>

<p>[Princeton</a> University | Financial Aid FAQ](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/financial_aid_faqs/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/financial_aid_faqs/)</p>

<p>here’s another:</p>

<p>[Yale</a> University Financial Aid > About Outside Aid](<a href=“Welcome | Student Financial and Administrative Services”>Welcome | Student Financial and Administrative Services)</p>

<p>and another:</p>

<p>[Questions</a> & Answers](<a href=“http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k51861&pageid=icb.page244009]Questions”>http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k51861&pageid=icb.page244009)</p>

<p>and another:</p>

<p><a href=“https://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=72#outs[/url]”>https://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=72#outs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>and another:</p>

<p>[University</a> of Michigan Office of Financial Aid: Financial Aid Awards](<a href=“http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Financial_Aid_Basics/howneed.asp]University”>http://www.finaid.umich.edu/Financial_Aid_Basics/howneed.asp)</p>

<p>These were not difficult to find, they were all readily available on the FA section of the college websites.</p>

<p>In addition, students or their parents SHOULD be going to the primary source (the college website or calling/emailing the college itself if necessary) to get this kind of information. They should NOT be accepting a post from an internet discussion forum as their ultimate source of information, particularly about money. Also, the dollar amounts that you’re asking for change each year.</p>