Is this supposed to happen?

Paying for College
1

<p>So I reported an outside scholarship that I got to my college, and now the college reduced their scholarship awarded to me by the same amount, is this supposed to happen? I thought outside scholarships should go towards your student account if you don't have any loans.</p>

2

<p>Scorpio...was this a need based scholarship? If so, your outside scholarship reduced your need. Also each school has a policy regarding outside scholarships and what they do or don't reduce. In many cases, an outside scholarship will first reduce your loans, then your work study, and THEN your other need based aid. </p>

<p>In any event, most schools will not allow you to have money in excess of the cost of attendance (and some in excess of the cost of tuition/fees/books) in scholarship awards for a year.</p>

<p>Is this what happened to you?</p>

3

<p>Was the school scholarship a need based award (normally called a grant rather than a scholarship)? If so then many schools policy is to allow the outside scholarship to reduce loans first, then work study, then it will reduce grants. The logic in this is that need based grants are awarded to meet need and an outside scholarship reduces the need.</p>

<p>If the school scholarship is a merit based scholarship (which generally don't take need into account) then I am surprised that they would reduce it.</p>

4

<p>I agree with the above posts. Your school scholarship most likely was a need based scholarship ... or it was a grant, which is different than a scholarship. If your outside scholarship reduced your need, you would have that much less need for a need based scholarship or for a grant. I think we are all interested to know ... what is your school scholarship called on your award letter, and what are the terms (which should be listed on your award letter)? We can explain it better if you can let us know.</p>

5

<p>It was not a grant. It was a scholarship based on merit and need. ARe schools doing this so that no matter what, your EFC is going to stay the same? But then I think, what's the point of scholarships then?</p>

6

<p>That does suck; maybe it's just your college...
but usually outside scholarships would reduce loans, then work components, then grant funding.</p>

<p>"Since outside awards are additional resources which reduce your need, they cannot be used to reduce the parent contribution or other expected family resources."
That's how it works here anywho.</p>

7

<p>Generally, a scholarship awarded on the basis of merit and need is given to top students in order to help them afford the school. In other words, this particular school probably does not give grants to everyone who needs them ... instead, they give merit/need scholarships that work like grants but are awarded only to certain students (top students, since it's merit). If the need is reduced, the scholarship is reduced. That's how these scholarships work. If the scholarship had been awarded on merit only, the outside scholarship would not have reduced it.</p>

8

<p>Oh, I just reread and saw you had no loans... that's about right then.</p>

9

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<p>Yes...your EFC will likely stay the same. If you get an outside scholarship, that reduces your "need", not your EFC. Some schools do allow "stacking" of scholarships up to the cost of attendance. BUT most do not. It sounds like your school does not.</p>

10

<p>what college was it, if you don't mind my asking?</p>