<p>Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience. D is a freshman in engineering at a large public university. When she applied last year, she received a merit scholarship based on her stats(4.3 GPA, top 2% rank, ACT 33). We are paying out-of-state tuition, and the scholarship was rather small compared to the other offers she received, but it's a great school for her field so she accepted. I recently went to their website for new students, and noticed they changed their scholarships for entering freshman - $25,000 more over 4 years, and only a 3.0 GPA to keep it (versus the 3.5 required to keep the current one). I'd like to write a letter to the president of the university (or someone else?) to request they consider revamping the scholarship for current students. Any suggestions, or do you think it's a lost cause? (I already spoke to someone in the scholarship office, and they indicated there would be no changes to current students). Thanks for any input.</p>
<p>My suggestion is that your D write a letter expressing again (I'm sure she sent a first one) her great gratitude for the opportunity the existing scholarship provides her but explaining that the remaining COA is a challenge. Point out why it is a challlenge. Point out that she turned down more lucrative offers and why she did so. Point out that she could do X or Y or Z with the $ (play in the band instead of working in the cafeteria).</p>
<p>If it's simply that "some other dude is getting more" and it'll save mom and dad some bucks .....well......let me ask - what would your position be if the new scholarship terms were $25K less and a more stringent GPA? Would you think it fair for them to change your D's terms? </p>
<p>If they threw extras in on my D's deal for the next class I don't see how we could complain. If they tried to lower it or make it more restrictive, I do believe D would be having a chat with them. ;)</p>
<p>My guess is this is Purdue. I read that they had come to the conclusion that they were losing ground, big time, at attracting desirable out of state students because their merit scholarships were relatively paltry.</p>
<p>Big universities are run by big bureaucracies. I think curmudgeon's suggestion may be all you can do. Your daughter might also want to check to see if her department (i.e. specific major) has scholarships available for continuing students who have done well. My experience is that, in general, those departmental scholarships are not large, but a friend told me her son had been awarded very large ones as a continuing student (very prestigious technical university) on the basis of his freshman performance.</p>
<p>I imagine this is how my friend with a son at Williams is feeling. As of NEXT year, no financial aid will be in the form of loans--it will be all grants. As far as I know, they are not making that retroactive.</p>
<p>If it's Purdue, this might come in handy:
<a href="https://engineering.purdue.edu/ENE/InfoFor/InfoFor/FutureStudents/undergrad/scholarship/%5B/url%5D">https://engineering.purdue.edu/ENE/InfoFor/InfoFor/FutureStudents/undergrad/scholarship/</a></p>
<p>It seems to me that the institutional scholarships <em>should</em> go up on an annual basis, commensurate with the newgrad increases. I find it interesting if they don't.</p>
<p>I've heard some unflattering news about a certain large private university in my own state :rolleyes: that has the reputation for giving big entry-level scholarships that dry up after the first year.</p>
<p>That's the nice thing about the scholarship I currently hold and it's true of a few of the University's scholarships.</p>
<p>The scholarship states it covers tuition. It doesn't have a money tag on it. Just that it covers tuition. As long as you can keep it, the scholarship will pay for your tuition even if it goes up.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone's input. I'll talk to my daughter some more about this, and see what she wants to do.</p>