So, my DD got into Smith, which is wonderful, great school! In addition, she received a Presidential Scholarship, also wonderful. In reading the explanation I find that this would be subtracted from any need based aid. We dont yet know what need based aid we would get so not sure how this will play out, but our EFC is in the 50s. I know the schools make their own interpretation so I will leave that alone as far as what we should expect to actually pay. My question is if merit aid their will be a stipulation the student fulfills academic requirements (not sure how hard) or this evaporates (fair enough, its a scholarship). If we had gotten financial aid that would be guaranteed? Why do so many seem to think Merit is much better to get than Need based aid?
I guess it is the only aid available if you dont qualify for any need based aid?
I did run NPC a number of times for Smith which yielded a number we could live with. It didnt hint at any scholarship, but sounds like that is moot anyway as net cost would be the same.
Yes, for us, merit aid is the only aid we get. So we will hope that our student can keep good grades (although often the threshold isn’t too high).
Congrats on the Presidential Scholarship!!
My understanding is the need is evaluated every year, so if you lose your scholarship and still have need, your need based aid would go up. (Getting the scholarship means you have less need the year you receive it.)
Yes, the Smith FA offer is going to get to what they think your family contribution is, based on CSS Profile, and they will use both merit aid and need based aid to achieve that. (they may use loans and work study too, not sure).
If she loses the merit aid, I agree need based aid would increase and the family will pay whatever the CSS Profile formula spits out…but that number can also change each year based on a family’s income/financials.
I will add that most schools use loans to help meet need.
So if your family “needs” $5,000 more than your expected family contribution, most schools will “award” you the option of taking out a $5,000 student loan. Obviously, merit aid would be a better way to bridge the gap.
Does merit aid - all those named scholarships - keep pace when with tuition goes up? For example, my D22 was also awarded a Presidential Scholarship (at a difference school) for $20,000/year for four years. If tuition rises $2000-4000/year, that scholarship will be worth much much less by the time she is a senior. Does schools account for this?
If a merit scholarship is for a fixed amount, usually that fixed amount stays the same.
BUT if the scholarship is for a specific %age reduction in say, tuition and fees, if the tuition and fees go up…so will the scholarship.
One of my kids received a scholarship that reduced tuition to the instate amount (she was OOS). In that case, if tuition rose, the scholarship did as well.
It usually stays the same over the 4 years, no increases for merit unless it is stated.
Merit offers were easier for us to wrap our heads around for budgeting over 4 years and for comparing offers. We knew the need based aid would change D21’s last two years when her brother graduated (same timing as the sibling FAFSA deal most likely going away). The combination of merit and need at several schools came in around our EFA of $30,000 at several schools and our EFA would go to at least $60,000 the last two years without the sibling split.