<p>D will be a freshman next year. Can someone tell me if her merit scholarships are going to reduce her state lottery scholarship? Here's the info from the school's financial aid report:</p>
<p>Cost of attendance: $19,900 (state school)
student contribution: $500
parent contribution: $13,426
financial need: $6064 (Was this calculated AFTER the school merit and lottery scholarship and student loan or before?)</p>
<p>Financial aid offer:
university merit scholarship: $7987 but it's broken down like this: presidential scholarship: $5734, state lottery scholarship that all entering freshmen get $2253
Federal student loan $5,500 (D is not taking the loan)</p>
<p>Since receiving this financial aid notice, D received two more outside merit scholarships that add up to $6000 and are non-renewable.</p>
<p>Based on this info, will D lose some of her merit scholarship or is she just under the radar? She does not qualify for any type of pelt grant or work study and only qualifies for the student loan which she isn't going to take. </p>
<p>Are your university merit scholarship really merit based? If not, your outside scholarships may reduce the money from your school. </p>
<p>It is not uncommon for a “merit” scholarship to have a need-based aspect to it, but this can vary from school to school and even scholarship to scholarship.</p>
<p>Unless you are willing to post the school, in the hope that someone has direct experience, you really need to either scour the school’s web site for details, or call the school’s financial aid department.</p>
<p>My state offers a lottery scholarship to all incoming freshman, but it kicks in the 2nd semester provided the student has at least a 2.5 GPA. It pays 90% of tuition, but not fees. This money is not needs-based. Everyone gets it. My D was awarded a merit presidential scholarship based on her ACT score, high school GPA, volunteer work, and essays she wrote in the scholarship application. It’s all merit-based. That scholarship is $7987 a year x 4 years, but the tuition portion of the lottery scholarship is mixed In with this, so the actual extra money from the presidential scholarship comes out to $5734 for next year. That combined with the lottery scholarship which kicks in for the 2nd semester adds up to $7987. The other $6000 comes from two merit-based outside scholarships that D applied for and received – one is for $1000 and one is for $5000. She does not qualify for any need-based funds aside from the student loan that she is not taking, but it still shows up in the financial aid letter anyway. </p>
<p>I’m assuming your D will be attending UNM–main campus based on your other posts.</p>
<p>The total value of the Presidential Scholarship already includes the tuition assistance portion from the Lottery Scholarship program.</p>
<p>Any outside scholarships your D receives must be reported to the FA office. (Failure to do so has nasty consequences–including a mandatory repayment requirement and the potential loss of her merit awards.) Per UNM policy, her outside scholarships will reduce the amount of her Presidential award by an equivalent amount. </p>
<p>However, since her outside scholarships are likely good for only 1 year, she will receive the full value of the Presidential Scholarship (approx. $7,987 per year) for her sophomore thru senior years.</p>
<p>All UNM FA packages include a federal student direct loan. Your D may decline the loan when she accepts her FA packages.</p>
<p>If my recollection is correct, the value of the Presidential Scholarship is about $1800/year above annual tuition and fees so your D will have an excess of ~$900 in her bursar’s account each semester that can be used to pay for books at the UNM bookstore and board costs. I don’t think the excess scholarship funds can be used to pay for private dorm costs, but I may be wrong about that.</p>
<p>Really? So she can’t use the outside scholarships to pay her dorm costs and is only allowed one scholarship even though ALL of her scholarships are merit-based and not need-based? Even after applying the outside scholarships we’ll still have to pay 3k for the required meal plan.</p>
<p>The reason why you can’t get the double dip on the Presidential is because the value of the Lottery Scholarship funds (which make up most of the Presidential Scholarship award–basically all of it except for $1800) cannot by law be applied to anything else exception tuition & fees.</p>
<p>Most outside merit scholarships are payable directly to the school and are earmarked to be used for tuition & fees under the terms of the scholarship award. If the outside merit pays tuition & fees, then the Lottery doesn’t need to and any extra funds revert to NM state general scholarship fund.</p>
<p>Still, you need to contact the FA office and inform them of the outside merit.</p>
<p>What are the specific terms of your D’s outside scholarships? What does the scholarship say it can be used for? If the scholarship sponsor specifically says the funds are not earmarked for tuition & fees, you may be able to argue your case with the FA office. You will need a written & signed statement from the scholarship sponsor that the scholarship may be used for room & board costs.</p>
<p>I will have to check with those agencies. One of the scholarship applications asked how the scholarship would help D reach her goals and she stated on the application that the funds would go towards campus housing. She also had to put how much scholarship money she had received so far for next year. She put down $7987, so they knew this before giving her the award. That specific scholarship is only for students in NM who attend or plan on attending an in-state university/college. Many of the winners are already in college now most likely with the lottery scholarship, so what would be the point of even getting the scholarship if it can’t be used? Also, the lottery scholarship pays $2253x2 =$4506 per year which leaves $3481 per year for the presidential portion, not $1800. Next year the lottery scholarship is only going to cover $86-90% of tuition. Freshman year the presidential actually pays more because the lottery scholarship doesn’t kick in until the 2nd semester. </p>
<p>I will check into this with those scholarships. Thanks for the info.</p>
<p>You need to contact the school directly on its outside scholarship policy, if it is not listed on the web site.</p>
<p>You really need to check into each school’s rules. OU allows its merit aid to stack with both outside and other OU scholarships. However, needs based money would be reduced by any other merit based scholarships.</p>
<p>I just checked with the school and was told that D can stack all her outside merit scholarships on top of her presidential scholarship to pay for her room and board. Her presidential scholarship which is combined with the state lottery scholarship is not considered financial aid. Whew! What a relief! </p>
<p>Keep in mind tat all scholarship monies over the cost of tuition and fees (room and board) is taxable income to the student. In addition all outside scholarships must be included on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>I’m glad her school operates that way. There is a recent case on this board, where it does NOT work that way. The grant a student got is specifically to be reduced by ANY outside scholarships. Them’s the rules for that school. It all depends upon the school’s policies about this.</p>
<p>None of this is grant money. It’s all merit scholarship money. I wasn’t sure about the lottery scholarship though since every student in the state receives it provided they maintain a certain GPA. I wasn’t sure if the school considered it financial aid or a scholarship, but they said it’s considered a scholarship. Now if it had been a Pell grant or financial aid, then her money would have been reduced, but it’s not. I also checked with the companies who gave DD the scholarships and they said the scholarships could be used for room & board.</p>
<p>I understand this 6k will be taxed. If DD reports 8k on her taxes (2k from a part-time job and 6k from the scholarship, approx. how much will she have to pay in taxes?</p>
<p>The standard deduction (assuming she is single) is $6100, leaving about $2K in taxable income.</p>
<p>She is comfortably in the 10% bracket, so she will owe about $200 in Federal income tax. </p>
<p>Looks like New Mexico also has a $6100 stand deduction so she will owe $30~ish in state income tax (assuming these scholarships are taxable in NM).</p>
<p>IcuinNm, the term “grant” is ambiguous, just letting you know. And people also use the term “scholarship” for need based aid. It can get confusing. </p>