<p>My current scholarship is for a specific amount. The amount is disbursed evenly over 4 years of schooling. However, I am on track to graduate in 3 years (for many reasons); can the disbursement from my supposed 4th year be applied to my 3rd and final year? </p>
<p>Does anyone have experience with this? If so, I am curious. Will graduating early screw me out of some of my scholarship money?</p>
<p>You would need to contact whomever has awarded you the scholarship. If it is an award that is given per year you are in college, then you may not find you will receive it that fourth year as you will no longer be an undergrad.</p>
<p>Maybe I was a little confusing on my original post.</p>
<p>I will not be continuing to pursue a graduate degree. I plan on finishing my undergraduate studies by the end of 3 years. The scholarship is for a specific amount; however it is disbursed to me over the course of 4 years. It does not say what would happen if I accrue more credits and complete my studies in 3 years.</p>
<p>If the university is going to award me a scholarship, how fair would it be to only pay me for 3/4s of that amount? Whether I finish my studies in 2 years, 3 years, or 4 years I should still be entitled to the amount they awarded.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how this works.</p>
<p>Most scholarships are worded as an annual amount renewable for up to 4 years (or 5 in some cases - my daughter had one that was renewable for 5 years) for a total of up to $xxx. If you graduate in 3 years you would just get 3 years worth of the scholarship. They will not give you the 4th years money.</p>
<p>Check the rules of your specific scholarship. There *may *be exceptions to the above, but I would be extremely surprised if that is the case.</p>
<p>You are not being “screwed out of scholarship money” if they do not give you money for a fourth year, because, well, there is no fourth year for you to get money FOR. Their money, their rules. No screwing involved. You need to contact them and ask them directly.</p>
<p>I was going to graduate in 3 years and I contacted those who AWARDED me my scholarship. Like swim said, they said it was renewable for 4 years. No early awards.</p>
<p>you aren’t “entitled” to change the rules of the scholarship. you need to be grateful for what you’ve been given.</p>
<p>My older son could have graduated in 3 years. It was decided that he would attend his 4th year, take classes for “interest” and complete a second minor. His senior year was his most fun year. And, since he was also doing grad school apps, it was nice that those were done during a less stressful school year.</p>
<p>Run all of your numbers. It may well be to your financial advantage to graduate in those three years. How much, exactly, of your college cost does 1/4 of the original scholarship amount cover each year, and how are you paying for the costs that the scholarship doesn’t cover?</p>
<p>I think that is a common misconception in America.</p>
<p>I am a good student with a 30 on my ACT, numerous accomplishments, and I contribute positively to the community.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, college has become a business these days; if, in fact, it is going to be run as a business, then students and families need to treat it like a business. I think we have it backwards … I’m paying thousands of dollars. The university is not paying me. I pay them to provide me a service (e.g. to educate me), and they provide me with this service.</p>
<p>I don’t think contemplating a valid issue (scholarship money) is being ungrateful.</p>
<p>It is of course to my advantage to graduate in 3 years. Anyone who wants to stick around for extra time just to “relax and have fun” should reconsider. There is no such thing as a 4 year degree. Colleges think students should complete undergraduate degrees in 4 years (but that’s only to keep them around and take more money). The average “4 year degree” shouldn’t take 4 years at all.</p>
<p>I’m looking to the future. I’d rather not accrue anymore debt than necessary.</p>
<p>Most people staying four years are most definitely not doing it to relax and have fun especially if they’re on scholarship money.</p>
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<p>You stated that you have a scholarship, which the school is under no obligation to supply you with. Since it is their institutional money, if you complete the degree in less than 4 years, they will not owe you money. </p>
<p>Based on your flawed logic, then in theory you will owe them the money for year 4 if you graduate in 3 years instead of 4.</p>
<p>The college does not owe you four years of scholarship money. They are helping you to pay for your education. Unless it is a privately funded scholarship (say, for example, the one I had in grad school set up in memory of somebody’s daughter), then there is no actual money involved - more likely it is a tuition reduction. In that case, you are getting exactly what you were “promised” whether you are there for threee years or four.</p>
<p>Of if you’d rather, I agree with sybbie: if your degree costs 4 x annual cost of attendance, then you OWE THEM 4 years worth of tuition, fees, etc and they can deduct that 4th year of scholarship.</p>
<p>Just be grateful for the scholarship. Most students aren’t that fortunate.</p>
<p>Based on your flawed logic, then in theory you will owe them the money for year 4 if you graduate in 3 years instead of 4.</p>
<p>lol…</p>
<p>Yes, she is “screwing” the school out of paying them for a 4th year. ;)</p>
<p>BTW…the student wrote: “the university isn’t paying me. I pay them.”</p>
<p>Uh no…since you’re getting a Presidential Scholarship, the univ is also paying YOU to go to their school for up to 4 years.</p>
<p>OP, no it is most certainly NOT a valid issue. The school offered you a tuition reduction or waiver for up to 4 years to complete your degree. Read the terms of your scholarship, and you will see exactly what they offer. You chose to attend a school in the US, under the US system. Degree programs here are designed to take 4 years, to allow you to not only complete requirements for your major, but to have a more well-rounded program. Some schools don’t allow you to graduate early without a special petition. Others, like the Service Academies, don’t allow you to graduate in less than 4 years period (even if you transfer in with a year or more of credits). </p>
<p>There are many ways to complete a degree in 3 years. Perhaps you entered with a full year worth of credit through AP classes. Would you rather they had treated you as a transfer student - and only offered you scholarships based on being a transfer student? Perhaps you chose to take summer classes - most scholarships don’t cover summer classes, so it would be your choice to accelerate your program to graduate early - at your own cost.</p>
<p>As others have stated here, perhaps you owe the school for your 4th year that you are skipping. Because either you finished your degree in more than 3 years (through AP which you earned before you were enrolled, extending your 3 years backward), or you were allowed to take more than the traditional “full load.” If you took extra classes, you got more than you paid for those terms.</p>
<p>You are not entitled to use your scholarship money for anything other that study at your school, unless the terms state otherwise. If you don’t want to attend grad school there, it’s not yours to use, just like you couldn’t transfer to another school and take the scholarship with you. It is a discount, just like the coupons I can use when I’m shopping. I can’t use a coupon for Skippy Peanut Butter to buy Smuckers Jelly, nor will the store just hand over $1 if I give the coupon without making a purchase.</p>
<p>bridgetoofar,</p>
<p>Traditionally, the expectation is that students will take four years to complete their degrees. Finishing early is not an option for all students, so aid from external sources normally is designed to last for those four years. You really do need to communicate with the organization that awarded this scholarship. If it is a typical college/university aid award, it will not be possible to ask for an adjustment based on your accelerated program. If it comes from an external source, there may be the possibility of getting a larger award each year, or in the last year (or even the last semester) once it becomes clear that you will indeed finish in three years.</p>
<p>If you are planning to go to graduate school you should not graduate in 3 years if you do not want to ‘lose’ scholarship money. You should use year 4 money to start taking graduate classes as an undergrad.</p>