My son qualified for the NY State TAP Grant. This was automatically linked when we did the FASFA. Problem is, they only assign it to one school on the list. Apparently that is the way they do it. It is not the school he is going to (in fact he didn’t even get in there). The school he will be attending has included this award as “Estimated” on his Financial Aid award. Do we need to manually go back into to FASFA or TAP and change the school?
If it’s like Michigan, the award automatically goes to the first school listed on the FAFSA as a default. Your child can change the school online: NYS Higher Education Services Corporation - TAP FAQs. Scroll down to Updating Information.
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Thanks for your reply. Yes, I know that we can change it, I was just wondering if we had to or if it would automatically get updated to school he was attending.
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I don’t think it will get updated - at least not in a timely manner - unless you take care of the change on your end.
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yes, you must change the school so that the money can be disbursed to the correct school in a timely manner.
In addition, if your son is attending a SUNY of CUNY school and your combination of TAP & PELL (If eligible) does not cover your full CUNY/SUNY tuition, don’t forget to apply for an excelsior scholarship. Remember, Excelsior is a last payer Scholarship.
https://www.hesc.ny.gov/pay-for-college/financial-aid/types-of-financial-aid/nys-grants-scholarships-awards/the-excelsior-scholarship.html
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He did get the Excelsior Scholarship. He is not attending SUNY though
Excelsior is only for CUNY and SUNY.
Was the first school listed for TAP a SUNY school? If yes, this is. why you may have been given excelsior. Excelsior is only for SUNY/CUNY.
Your son. maybe eligible for an ENHANCED TUITION Award (the application has not opened yet).
The Enhanced Tuition Awards (ETA) program provides tuition awards to students who are New York State residents attending a participating private college located in New York State. Recipients will receive $6,000 through a combination of their TAP award, ETA award and a match from their private college.
https://www.hesc.ny.gov/pay-for-college/financial-aid/types-of-financial-aid/nys-grants-scholarships-awards/enhanced-tuition-awards.html
Check to make sure that your son is attending a school that participated in the program. Many schools opted out of ETA, because they felt that the terms were too restrictive.
Schools that are currently participating in ETA
No. He did apply to a SUNY and they listed the Excelsior Scholarship in his award. But the first school listed was not a SUNY. He is not going to the SUNY so it doesn’t matter anyway. We do need to go in and change the school on the TAP though.