It goes directly to her. I don’t think that varies between schools, How she plans to spend it is up to her. But I think it will be awarded with the assumption that it is part of the money that will be used to pay her COA (which does include an amount for “personal expenses” if you look at the St. Olaf website). I will say that the expectation most colleges have for summer earnings is quite a bit above $700-$800 for the summer. Not sure what her options will be at home to earn more next summer, but it is something to keep an eye on.
On the issue of merit scholarships, they don’t always go to the wealthy @Sue22 Often times they go to students who while they may officially be full pay, being full pay is a real stretch for them. But let’s not kid ourselves, merit money is not always an altruistic, let’s help kids out of the goodness of our hearts thing. It benefits the school too, by enrolling high stats kids who may not have otherwise enrolled, and thereby makes the school’s admissions numbers and test scores look better. There are a bunch of schools, where it would be interesting to see, what would happen to their stats if they got rid of merit money
I haven’t responded and I’m not planning to because it would be too easy to derail the OP’s thread with a discussion of merit money vs. need based aid. This has been discussed elsewhere but I’m happy to participate in a new thread should someone decide to start one.
@intparent Can you maybe direct me to that part of the site? I’ve seen other schools post a minimum number they expect students to contribute on their own each year aside from loans and grants. I didn’t see it on StO website. That doesn’t mean it’s not there rather I might have missed it. I would be nice to know what that amount is so she can prepare. It’s not always easy for kids to find work. Or to realistically expect to make several thousands of dollars over the summer.
Coincidentally, my D just got home and forwarded me an email from SO from her AO just asking my D to confirm she was comfortable with the ED agreement and asking is she had looked over the NPC with me, (we have, it feels too good to be true) and asking her to confirm she was on board before they proceed. I love that StO sent that email, and we never got anything like that from G.
That might just be SOP for them, and it’s a great they do that, or it could be a really good sign…back to reading tea leaves.
One look at our NPC and it’s does feel like a true gift and we all would feel so honored and blessed for this amazing opportunity.
I’m so glad I called FA yesterday to confirm they had everything they need and to ask if my NPC was a somewhat accurate reflection, to which they confirmed after asking what numbers I came up with.
@Sue22 let me just say that I partially agree with you. Because I have seen first hand from one of the schools my D was accepted to that she was given the highest amount of merit available, and she certainly wasn’t the top qualified applicant. She’s not an athlete either.
But that school offers zero institutional aid, I strongly suspect most acceptances come with the very same scholarship.
On the other hand, there are some other schools on her list that are re-evaluating her merit now that they have her new scores and updated GPA and class rank.
In what we all know is my very rookie opinion, far from all knowing, this might not be a black and white issue and probably varies from school to school.
@Grinnellhopeful I think the email your D got from StO is a pretty standard thing for a lot of schools. When my D applied to a school ED, she got one, and my DH and I got a similar one via regular mail. Basically just making sure we all knew it was binding and if we had doubts to switch to RD.
That being said, I still think your D will get accepted.
@wisteria100 I’m sure you’re right. But I still like that they do it. I love that she is asking my D to consider it herself outside of me. We didn’t get anything like from G. I think all schools with ED agreements should follow suit.
It’s a good way to guarantee a student hasn’t been pressured by a parent. I don’t have access to my D’s email, she’s allowed some personal space. If asked her for her password she would give it to me but I haven’t.
Just out of curiosity though, was your D admitted ED to that school?
Our daughter received a similar ED email from her St. Olaf AO just after the application deadline.
If you are asking about them including personal expenses in the cost, I just saw here that they had budgeted $1000 for books and $900 for personal costs. I will say that mostly my kids spent less on books – they rented them online, bought used, and sometimes found others on campus with the same books.
https://wp.stolaf.edu/financialaid/cost-and-billing-information/
Regarding summer earnings, that is just pretty standard across most schools to expect students to earn at least a couple thousand dollars per summer. Maybe others have had different experiences and can say so, but that has been our experience.
I was actually surprised at how quickly my D could earn $2k at a very basic summer job. There are threads all about summer jobs and I’d say most schools budget at least $2k in expected student summer earnings. Maybe St O didn’t or maybe none of them do in the NPC??? They usually do elsewhere on their websites, such as in sample FinAid pkgs, etc.
@Grinnellhopeful, keep in mind that the $2400 work study that apparently was in the NPC, will not be available when you need to pay the bill, perhaps in July or August. And your D may not get a W-S job immediately upon arriving on campus, so the first semester earnings may be low.
My D did not earn her whole allotment her first year. At her school, they definitely do stop the W-S students from working over 10 hrs/wk. The W-S grants are based on 10 hrs.
@Grinnellhopeful Yes my D did get accepted to her ED school, and is now a happy sophomore. Now starting the process again with D2
Most colleges have WS jobs available in food service immediately. I would not think that will be an issue. It is a good way to meet a lot of other frosh, too.
One of my kids night stocked at Walmart to earn her summer income one year. It was not her favorite thing, but accomplished what she needed to. After that she found positions on campus and stayed the summers there.
Well if I am being specific to StO only, they have an amazing program for low income students, and or first gen students. If she got accepted and then IF she was lucky enough to be selected for this program it takes place over 5 weeks this summer.
This is the kind of support you don’t find everywhere, it is one of the things that I think makes StO special.
Those are both two great big if’s…but if and if, there would be very little time to work this summer.
It’s a summer bridge program. It would make me feel so much better for her. She would get they lay of the land, be connected with a mentor, meet her professors and and advisor, earn a science credit, bone up on her writing (although I think her writing is very solid, it never hurts to have some extra enrichment. There is so much writing in IB and the IB tests are written instead of MC and aren’t scored by her teachers.
Anyway…that would leave 3-4 weeks max to work if she could even find a job within those parameters.
Again, these are two very big assumptions.
I’m just thinking out loud.
I’m quoting direct numbers from the NPC, usually I’m going from memory but I pulled it up this time,
St. Olaf Grants- 44,400 (76%)
Federal Pell- $5,920 (10%)
Estimated Campus Employment- $2300 (4%)
Federal Student loans- $5500 (9%)
Family responsibility- $210 (2%) Estimated Cost of Attendance after all aid
Does that help everybody understand why ED was a no brainer for her?
They break it down even further and there is s section that shows $1000 for books and supplies
But the numbers stay the same
She had a net price of attendance of $8,010
Which is covered by the 5500 in federal loans, 2300 in campus employment, and $210 in family contribution
ETA: The NPC is obviously an estimate not a black and white in ink FA package but if it’s correct and FA Office said that should be accurate, this is not unaffordable. This is reasonable. This is a dream come true.
@intparent I suspect if accepted to SO she will probably find better opportunities over the summer on campus than at home. I know that’s probably hard for her to think about right now but when she’s acclimated, it won’t be such a big deal. Especially since her sister wants to follow her
That is more of a policy discussion for those who make policy at colleges and universities (particularly public ones). High school seniors and their parents can only play the hands that they are dealt by those who make the policies (particularly in their state of residency for state school tuition purposes, but also by each private school that they are interested in). Perhaps you may want to make a separate thread on the policy discussion rather than mix it in with this thread trying to help the OP find affordable desirable college choices.
@ucbalumnus, Please see post #582. 
I had been responding directly to something the OP said that I thought was a misperception but I agree any further discussion belongs on a thread of its own.
@Grinnellhopeful I’m not familiar with the specifics of the StO summer bridge, but do know that lots of schools have similar programs, and your D may actually be overqualified for something like that. Usually they are targeted at kids the school thinks may struggle a bit with the academic rigor of college ie; kids from underserved high schools, kids whose coursework may not be up to par with the incoming class, those where English is not their first language and may need a writing course before entering college, students who have a quantitative reasoning gap etc. Your D, coming from an IB program with high grades and now a standardized test score that is strong for the school, may not actually be a fit for a program like that.
StO sounds like a perfect match, academically and financially and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for her.
Regarding the summer bridge program, work study and summer employment, working 10 hours each week for work study is a no-brainer. The schools generally make it very convenient and work around classes and exams. Some schools require what some consider a dismal job (lots of times in the dining halls) but others may not. In D’s case, because she had so much prior restaurant experience, she was assigned to the cafe where she cooked. Since then, she has worked as a theatre attendant, a tutor, grading papers, and other positions that she has really enjoyed.
After freshman year D was offered a 10-week research job with $3000 stipend at the college which she did but it limited her other summer earnings to the point that she took only the 5 week position with a smaller stipend the following summer. She can make more than $5000 during the summer waitressing two jobs and while the research is important, paying for college has to take priority.
Given the choice of a bridge program or having money for tuition and other expenses, I’d pick the employment piece. You might have her look at the paid research opportunities at the school so she gets the best of both worlds, $$ and education.
Your D does not sound like a match for the summer program for the reasons @wisteria100 notes would probably be better served by earning money. But if the goal of the cohort is to provide students from less traditional backgrounds - and this includes URM, lower SES - with support they have found they need in their environment, she could find it helpful. SO is quite homogeneous, and they, like many schools, may have found their students do much better with the support of a group.
But that’s something to explore after admission. So soon…
Thank you all for the responses regarding the Summer bridge program. I don’t even know of she will eat accepted. As I parent I found it appealing and just the fact that they have such strong support services for families from low income backgrounds gives me much peace about the ED agreement.
And you’re absolutely right, she would in a pool of other admitted applicants competing for a spot. Another student might benefit far more than she would. I assume the people that make the choices regarding the program are well qualified im choosing those students. I’m just the mom of 1 kid who hasn’t been accepted yet.
@NEPatsGirl Thank you for sharing your D’s experience. Anytime a parent with a student at SO shares information, I eagerly soak it in and take the advice very seriously.
Are you saying they might be opportunities for research and work this summer before her freshman year? That would be amazing. If accepted I wonder who she might reach out to for that information?
Everything seems so perfect. It’s a little scary to get our hopes up, both of us, actually my D20 included. I believe siblings have a stronger chance of admission. If my D18 gets accepted, it could help my D20 who is very vested now, too.
How many more days? lol