I will be attending Ohio State, which has given me a full ride through their Morrill program. The only specific info on the scholarship online says that it’s “full cost of attendance”. The amount shown in my award summary seems like it includes tuition, room and board, books, and then a random couple thousand dollars.
I have a few questions about the general nature of a full ride (figured I’d get some answered on here so I don’t have to bother OSU too much ) - does this only apply to four years, or would they cover expenses if I had to return for a fifth year? Does it cover any possible amount of classes I might want to take (eg if I wanted to double major, double major with a minor, etc., would the amount of tuition I’d have to pay change accordingly?) Is there any school-related expense that wouldn’t be covered by a CoA scholarship? And what are the couple thousand $$ in my scholarship amount that I can’t attribute to tuition, room and board, or books?
I would appreciate input/advice from anyone who has experience with large scholarships, I’m super grateful to have this opportunity but a little overwhelmed!
The questions about the 5th year or double majors are up to the school. What other schools do doesnt matter, just what your school, or in fact that scholarship, cover. The ‘extra’ COA money is a formula the school uses for all students, and is especially important to athletes now who get that money as cash (it used to be more of an estimate for what your could expect to pay above tuition and room and board). It usually includes travel costs, incidentals like phone or Internet fees, snacks, toiletries. It may or may not include the cost of health insurance.
Don’t forget to factor in taxes. All scholarship $$ in excess of tuition/fees are taxable at your parents unearned income rate (after allowing for your personal deduction.) The $$ beyond COA could be saved to pay the tax bill next yr. The following yrs, depending on the amt, you might need to pay quarterly taxes.
One of my kids has a ‘full scholarship’ which covers tuition, fees, room, board and provides a books voucher.
Note:
Room is for a standard double. Moving to a single means we pay the difference
Meals is for a standard, generous meal plan. If she gets a lesser meal plan it is still covered but they DO NOT refund the cost difference to her.
Books is a book voucher for $450 per semester at the campus book store for books and school supplies (including printer ink and paper, etc.). Some kids have been able to buy things like umbrellas, clothes etc. at the book store with it as well. Again, the money not used on the voucher is not refunded.
Tuition and fees is her full tuition and all mandatory fees
It covers 8 semesters.
The FASFA still must be filed (seems ridiculous, but it allows for the student to get the federal loan if needed, at anytime in the year. We have to file anyway for our older one not on a scholarship so it is not too much of a burden)
There is a GPA requirement that must be met (tallied for the year, at the end of the spring semester–important to note as if you slip up, you cannot use the summer to get the GPA up to keep the scholarship)
There are minimum credit hours that must be taken each semester
A friend at another university has a full cost of attendance scholarship. His tuition, fees, room and board are paid for and he gets a couple of thousand+ back a year to cover books, estimated travel expenses, etc. If he chooses not to use the meal plan or not to live on campus, they give him that money to use as he pleases for room and board wherever.
His GPA requirement is higher
He has a service requirement as well to keep his scholarship
Make sure you FULLY know what you must do to keep your scholarship and are aware of implications of dropping meal plan, moving off campus, etc. @redandblack
(and as @Mom2aphysicsgeek said, there are tax implications to consider)
Finally, it provides a lot of freedom to have a full ride, congratulations. Yes, there is the GPA stress,but usually scholarship kids would put the stress on themselves to get those grades anyway
) - does this only apply to four years, or would they cover expenses if I had to return for a fifth year? Does it cover any possible amount of classes I might want to take (eg if I wanted to double major, double major with a minor, etc., would the amount of tuition I’d have to pay change accordingly?) Is there any school-related expense that wouldn’t be covered by a CoA scholarship? And what are the couple thousand $$ in my scholarship amount that I can’t attribute to tuition, room and board, or books?