<p>When schools say that loans aren't included in the aid package AND they meet 100% of need.. what does this mean? They meet all of your need with grants? Can you still GET loans if you have to?</p>
<p>Also, might as well throw this in. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt on scholarships:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Students are encouraged to research and apply for scholarships offered by various organizations, companies, and clubs. There are many resources to assist a student's search for scholarship funding, including the online service offered by FastWeb. Click on the Link to FastWeb located on the menu bar above. Any of the awards received from outside sources should be reported directly to the Office of Student Financial Aid.</p>
<p>If you will be receiving a scholarship from a source other than the university, please complete the Outside Scholarship Notification form and return it to the Office of Student Financial Aid no later than July 12, 2007. Please do not include National Merit, VU Merit, or ROTC scholarships on this form. Please attach a copy of the outside scholarship award notice you received from the donor(s). Click here for the Outside Scholarship form (pdf).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What the hell does that mean!? If you get a scholarship.. you basically can't use it, you have to give it to them and STILL meet the EFC? Huh!?</p>
<p>How do you figure that? If you get a scholarship, of course you use it. It helps pay your way! My D got an outside scholarship. She was asked how she wanted to apply it: 1)her contribution would be reduced or 2)any loans would be reduced or 3)computer purchase-- one time deal. Well, for the second year there are no loans, so we applied it to her contribution. At her school, the parents’ contribution cannot be reduced through outside scholarship, and the University grant is not reduced, because it is not the full cost. If she received full ride from the University, then the outside scholarship would have gone to the University to reduce the scholarship, I believe. I don’t know anything about the ROTC or NM scholarships, so I can’t help you interpret that part of your quote.</p>
<p>I don’t get it. So… the parental contribution cannot be reduced through scholarships? What’s the use of a scholarship, then? I thought the EFC is what you have to pay…</p>
<p>A scholarship can reduce the EFC if there is no need based aid involved. But when there is ‘need’ then the scholarship will generally reduce need first. When there is federal aid involved the EFC + scholarships + aid cannot exceed the school’s COA.</p>
<p>Most schools will use scholarships to reduce loans and work study before it affects grant aid. My daughter got a higher scholarship after her need based aid offer and the loans in her aid package were reduced.</p>
<p>If your family’s EFC is high enough that you won’t be receiving any need based awards (Vandy grants or federal grants/work study), your scholarships WILL go toward paying your EFC.</p>
<p>If you get any federal grants or work study, and/or if you get Vandy grants, outside scholarships will reduce some part of your aid package. This is because Vandy promises to meet all need. Your outside scholarships are “on top of” the awards that met your need, meaning that you will be overawarded … you will have MORE THAN your need met. Your awards will be adjusted so that you are not overawarded. According to Vandy’s website, the student work expectation can be replaced by outside scholarships. This means that your work study award will be reduced by the amount of the scholarship - you can still find a non-work study job, of course, if you need money. After that, your Vandy need based grants will be reduced … they were only awarded to you to meet need, so they are reduced if your need is reduced. </p>
<p>If you have Vandy merit scholarships ONLY, these will not be reduced by your outside scholarships. If you received merit AND need based money from Vandy, the need based awards would be reduced by the outside scholarships.</p>
<p>You can still borrow, if you want. If you are awarded work study and you don’t have outside scholarships that replace it, you can take out a subsidized Stafford loan instead of accepting the work study award (and you can try to find a non-work study job, if you want). You can borrow unsubsidized Stafford loans and PLUS loans, because these are not based on need. Your eligibility for these is determined by taking the Cost of Attendance and subtracting ALL aid (Vandy scholarships, outside scholarships, all need based federal and Vandy grants, work study/subsidized Stafford loan). The amount that remains is your eligibility to borrow unsubsidized Stafford loan and parent PLUS loan. Freshmen can borrow $5500 in Stafford loans (all unsubsidized - or if you take some subsidized instead of work study, the combination of sub & unsub can only total $5500). The remaining amount of your loan eligibility can be borrowed by your parents in a PLUS loan.</p>