Is merit-based aid applied first, and then need-based? Or can they be independent? I’m referring to smaller scholarships. Not scholars programs or major scholarships.
For example, student A has an EFC of 15k. They get 10k in scholarships. Tuition is 60k. Will total aid come out to 45k or 55k?
If your EFC is $15,000 and the total cost of attendance is $60,000, it means that your need is $45,000. If you receive a $10,000 scholarship, your need is now $35,000. This does not mean that the school will hand you a check for $35,000 ( or $45,000). Some schools meet full need, while many do not. Some schools meet full need without loans, while others include some loans in their package.
I think most schools reduce need when merit is given (?). There are probably some that allow stacking.
Different schools do it different ways. Many schools will reduce the need based aid they award by the amount of merit, leaving you with the same cost of attendance. Some schools “stack” aid, so they do give you the full amount of both. It usually is not clear from the college website, so you often have to ask the financial aid office at each college.
This isn’t really related to “meeting need”. That affects how much need based aid you can expect.
So really, at a school that will meet 100% of need, merit scholarships don’t mean much? This is what I expected. A little disappointing, but unsurprising.
Many of the schools that meet full need are very competitive in terms of acceptance. Getting merit to these schools is not easy. Did you have any specific schools in mind?
The concept of “meets need” means the school will analyze your finances and decide what they think you can/should pay based on income and assets. Each school has their own equation, though. And only a fairly small number of schools commit to meeting need to start with. The rest can’t afford to. And if a school determines that they think you can pay a specific amount, then you can sort of see why they would not want to put their money into need based aid when you get an additional scholarship that means (in their mind) that you have the money they calculated to start with to pay your school-specific EFC, and now you get this gravy amount of a scholarship on top of it. So whether the merit comes from the college or from an outside source, it probably won’t affect your cost of attendance unless the merit is more than your need based aid amount.
This is generally the case with that school’s own merit scholarships. There aren’t a ton of schools that award their own merit aid AND meet 100% need.
Many/some schools treat OUTSIDE scholarships (ones not from your college) differently. Some do in fact reduce their own grant aid , but most in my experience, instead reduce loans or work-study in that amount, or they let you use it as part of your student contribution. They usually do not let you use it as part of your family contribution.
Could u suggest Mr some colleges or universities that meet 100% need based
@intparent That makes a lot of sense. Thanks! I know the vast majority of colleges don’t meet 100% of need.
Actually, most such schools have an expected student contribution (work earnings and/or federal direct loans). Many of them apply merit scholarships against the expected student contribution first. Examples:
http://financialaid.stanford.edu/aid/outside/
https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/types-aid/outside-awards
http://finaid.yale.edu/costs-affordability/types-aid/scholarships-and-grants
https://students.ucsd.edu/finances/financial-aid/types/scholarships/
@OHMomof2 If 2 students had the exact same financial situation but one was say, in the top 10% of the admit pool and the other was in the bottom 10%, they would get the same amount of aid?
Seems to me that scholarships only have value at state schools (where the tuition may be below someone’s EFC) or schools that meet very little of financial need.
Not necessarily. If the school met 100% of need and their situation was identical, then theoretically they would get the same package.
But many schools that do not promise to meet 100% of need use preferential packaging, that is they offer better financial aid (even need-based) to students they want more.
Depends. My kid got a couple of outside scholarships and that replaced her work-study award. SO she got the same money but doesn’t have to work those hours (she DOES work some anyway, but it’s not work-study). If you have loans, then those are loans you wouldn’t have to take. But at some schools, yes, it would just cancel out grant aid.
@Sameer218, you can Google something like “meets need colleges” to get a list. However, if you are international, some colleges that meet need for US students don’t meet need for internationals. Or they are not need blind for admissions, so internationals with high need have a harder time getting accepted.
It depends on what you mean by merit scholarships “meaning much”. Your need based aid is reduced but only because the cost of the education is reduced. You aren’t being punished somehow because you receive merit aid.
My daughter once received a scholarship awarded to the most deserving academic/character upper classman in her department. Since she already had very generous aid and merit awards and had free room and board as an RA, she did not get any financial benefit from the award but it was a big honor for her. It “meant something” in ways that were not financial.
A lot of people don’t go looking for outside scholarships if they are going to a school that meets100% of need. It is more work and usually just replaces other aid, so more paperwork for the same bottom line of what you will pay. However, there aren’t that many schools like that, public or private.
My daughter goes to a private school that does not meet need. She has a merit scholarship, from the school, for the biggest part of her tuition. She also has a few other awards, and then her need based awards. They all stack. She had one outside scholarship last year, and that stacked too.
Even the Ivies have a student contribution, and most allow outside scholarships to meet that contribution (and sometimes a little over for things like computers)
And I agree with KKmama, it’s fun to win scholarships!