So I’ve been wondering this ever since I started applying for private scholarships (which I haven’t received any).
Think of this as a hypothetical situation, but suppose it you are attending undergrad now and have enough grants & scholarships to a point that you don’t really need extra money to pay for undergrad.
Then during those years, if we earn some private scholarships in undergrad, do we have to use those money toward undergrad, or is it possible to save it up for grad school?
That would depend on the scholarship. If it’s specifically for UG education then it has to be used then, There is a poster here who has earned enough scholarship $ to carry over because it is allowed (based on the various scholarships).
What Erin’s Dad said. Specifically, GE-Reagan and Coca-Cola allowed me to defer their scholarships. No other scholarships allowed that, even though I was still overfunded.
So, in short, don’t count on it, even if you win a whole bunch of scholarships for undergrad. They probably won’t allow deferment to grad school (and if they do, it probably won’t be enough to pay for all of grad school).
And don’t forget that all of the scholarship money that exceeds tuition and fees is taxable income. Room and board are not allowable expenses for tax purposes.
Some scholarship will allow you to defer the disbursement. We regret my D did not do that last year as all the external scholarship just offset the grant money last year when there was no loan. Now there is a loan for this year but the money is already given to the school last year and we gain nothing.