We have narrowed the list down to a handful of colleges, and will research this at each one as we narrow it further, but wondered what is typical to expect.
The FA and Merit aid is capped at 4 years, but a student coming home for medical reasons for a term or a year would certainly delay graduation. Would FA and Merit usually be paused while they are not in classes, resuming for the full 4 years that they do attend, or will some schools keep the clock ticking? Does it depend on when the student left (before the semester starts or mid-semester)?
Every school has its own policies - the only way to know for sure is to ask each school.
Taking a leave of absence (i.e. finishing out a semester in December and taking finals but asking for leave for the Spring semester) is different from withdrawing mid-semester.
Each college will have its own way of handling but in general, taking a leave of absence doesn’t require much in the way of jumping through hoops (if a kid is in good academic standing but wants to take a semester off it’s usually just a rubber stamp type of request through the Dean’s office) vs. a withdrawal mid semester which will require some documentation, potentially losing a semester’s worth of tuition if you are past the official drop date, etc. And often there will be no refund on the room and board component, again, depending when the kid withdraws.
You are right to ask. My daughter’s merit aid says it is good for 8 consecutive semesters. She asked about taking a semester off to do an internship (not offered through the school) and they are looking into whether her merit aid will continue. It is not a rubber stamp.
Need based financial aid should continue if the need is still there.