So my sons are trying to decide between a college that is affordable via merit scholarships and another, also affordable, via need based grants.
So which are truly better? And how renewable are grants?
Merit awards are not based on yoir incime…so if income rises, your kid will still get that merit award assuming he meets any other criteria set for renewal.
Need based awards will go down if your income goes up…in most cases.
What if your income stays similar or the same? Would it be expected to receive each year if the EFC stayed the same?
Of the need based awarding policies and formula stay the same AND your income doesn’t change…your need based aid might remain the same. Then again…if the school does not meet full need for all, your aid could,go down or change. I will say…schools are not usually trying to make that happen…and they will tell you, usually, that if your financiers remain the same, your need based aid will lie.y remain the same…as well.
But how can you be sure your income will not go up in four years?
For the merit money, consider how high the GPA for renewal is. Consider if there are other conditions like choosing specific majors.
I agree that income can fluctuate. In both ways positive or negative.
Just not sure if grants should be looked at in the same light as scholarships.
Plus, the college with grants becomes much cheaper. Both affordable options, but the college giving grants is higher ranked and would be cheaper based on the award amounts.
Which has the greater probability of happening - your income changing or your son not getting the appropriate GPA?
Yes, it really comes down to the relative risk of:
a. At the need-based grant school, your income (or other relevant factors, such as another college student graduating or otherwise no longer attending school) changing in a way that adversely affects financial aid, but not enough to pay for the new higher net price, or
b. At the merit scholarship school, your kid not meeting the renewal criteria (GPA or whatever) for the scholarship.
Note that if the need-based grant school starts at a less expensive net price, there is some range of unfavorable financial aid changes that will leave a net price that is still lower than that of the merit scholarship school.
Of course, other aspects of the schools may matter, such as whether there is any difficulty gaining admission to his desired major at either school.
most schools say they’ll keep FA consistent if financials stay relatively the same.
But, for schools that don’t meet 100% of need, often they don’t meet as much aid for Sophs, Jrs and Srs as for freshment (the old “bait and switch” to lure you in).
Check out collegedata and compare ‘money matters’ for freshmen compared to all UGs. the percentage of need met will show you how much of a dropoff there is and you can make your decision with as much info as possible.
Also what about tuition increases?
If merit scholarship is a set amount then net price would also be affected by this, but if merit covers tuition, then tuition increases would not increase net price.
If tuition goes up at need based grant school, will the aid keep pace with the increase?
Taking the ranking out of the equation, what about the fit, program, research opportunities?
There are schools that do bait and switch by offering more aid to freshmen. Otherwise, grant money should depend on your need. If the CoA increased, your need is likely increased too.