<p>It may sound stupid, but I don't know if I can combine two or more sources of funds for tuition (for example, an outside scholarship and a merit-based one from the university) and I am also curious whether I can apply for more than one scholarship offered by the same school and eventually get them all in order to ease my payments.</p>
<p>Each university has its own way of determining how to apply outside scholarships. Likewise, each university has its own policies about how many of their own scholarships you can hold at one time. Your best plan is to apply for as many scholarships as you qualify for, and then compare the overall financial aid packages that each university offers you. You will have to ask each university what its own policies on outside scholarships are.</p>
<p>Outside scholarships will reduce your need. At some point, it will start impacting your federal aid (based upon your EFC). If you receive a need based scholarship from a school, outside scholarships could impact that (they don’t see you as needy anymore).</p>
<p>Each university has its rules about “stacking” school awarded scholarships. The school my Daughter attends is adamant: No stacking. One school my Son applied to said they will try to assemble scholarships (stacking) to make him an attractive offer. Within a school they may differentiate: some scholarships may be stackable (donor/endowment funded scholarships), and some may not (school funded scholarships).</p>