Hi all, so I got accepted into SUNY Albany with a presidential scholarship of $4300/year. I also qualify for the excelsior scholarship, which allowed ny state families that make under $100k free tuition for SUNY/CUNY. I was wondering if the excelsior scholarship negates my presidential scholarshpi, or is it like $4300 per year on top of free tuition from excelsior?
Is the Presidential Scholarship applied to tuition? @sybbie719 would know for sure, but I think that unless the scholarship specifies that it’s for tuition then you may be able to stack them. The Excelsior is a last payer, though, and only for tuition, so if the scholarship pays for tuition then the only Excelsior grant you’d qualify for would be the difference between the year’s tuition and the scholarship. If the yearly tuition is $6500, that means you’d qualify for no more than a $2200 Excelsior grant.
@austinmshauri is correct. The Excelsior Scholarship is a last Payer Scholarship. If you have received a Presidential scholarship, these are usually given by admissions. They are usually applied to tuition . If you were getting a STEM scholarship, an Academic Excellence Scholarship, or a PELL Grant they will also kick in before Excelsior.
Remember that any non-Qualified Educational expense (room, board, fees) above the cost f tuition is going to be taxable income to you.
Albany is most likely going to use your scholarship toward tuition and then you will get an Excelsior credit that will cover the balance of your.
If, you had been eligible for full TAP (which is an entitlement), then you probably would have been able to stack the award.
You ca always ask the financial aid office but be prepared for them to tell you that you will not net any additional monies.
@sybbie719 thanks so much!