How does need-based+merit aid work?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
1

<p>Does merit aid and other financial aid overlap or are they cumulative? For example, if my EFC is about 20k and I get 15k merit, will that overlap with whatever grant/loan package Tulane gives me or will I end up paying 5k/year? Also, does the DHS overlap with the presidential scholarships or does DHS+25k=full ride? thx</p>

2

<p>The last question first: If you get the DHS that is full tuition and so it replaces the Presidential. All you are responsible for at that point are room/board and fees. But the 25K is not added onto full tuition, otherwise you would be making a profit going to school. Nice thought but…</p>

<p>I am not 100% sure about the EFC question. I would talk to the financial aid office, and I am sure others here will weigh in. But I think that if your EFC is 20K, that means they expect you to need about 30K in FA. The 15K merit, or whatever merit amount you receive, comes off that 30K, not off your EFC of 20K. They would still expect you to contribute 20K. But of course, that merit award means you are “only” borrowing (assuming it is a loan) 15K, not 30K and so you come out of school with considerably less debt.</p>

<p>Hope that helped.</p>

3

<p>I cannot speak specifically to Tulane’s policies, but I am familiar with what some other schools do, and I bet Tulane is similar. Merit aid is typically not added to need based aid, it becomes part of the overall package. What schools do is calculate the expected financial contribution from the parent, from the student, from direct student loans, and from university grants without reference to the merit award. They then allow the student to apply the merit award to cover the student contribution and loans. That way, only grants and parental contribution remains --no student loans or student contribution. If there is a greater merit award than the total of loans and student contribution, that amount is not added to the total since the university is already providing grant money. Parents may still need to take out parental loans to cover their EFC, the merit award does not cover that.</p>