When the acceptance letter does not mention merit awards but the financial letter has a school grant line, what is this grant considered? Is it financial aid? Semi-merit? Can we expect every year the school will offer the school grant? Would it be dependent on gpa?
I would contact the school’s financial aid directly if you have any questions. Have you looked up the grant information on the schools website for the details?
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Grants are typically based on demonstrated financial need, based on the information on your FAFSA (and CSS Profile, if that was required). Most schools reevaluate the total financial aid package annually, so the grant might change in the future. Some schools will guarantee their institutional grant for all four years. It’s important to contact the school’s financial aid office to find out for sure what their policy is.
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As you are evaluating your options, create a spreadsheet that includes predicted aid and COA/expenses for all four years based on your possible scenarios. It is hard to compare apples to apples.
Merit offers will typically state if they are for all 4 years and if they are dependent on maintaining a certain gpa. Many times, it does not increase as tuition, fees, room, and board increases - that can really be frustrating for families.
Grants and need based aid scholarships usually vary year to year. If you put in your predicted income and info for tax years 2022, 2023, and 2024 in the net price calculators you will be able to see what may be typical, but ask if aid is reduced for upper classmen.
This helped us consider the overall costs. There are also student and parent loan calculators so you can see what payments may be post the 4 years of college (or you can make payments during).
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Thank you! That really helps. You know when you are in a situation and you don’t ask the right follow up questions because you are still trying to process the info with not that much knowledge, this has been my day today. I think the counselor did tie grant with income but I was still trying to figure out why there was no additional aid. I was a few steps behind but kind of caught up thanks to everyone here.
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