Seniors confused about FAFSA and FA

[ucbalumnus]

The following thread gives examples of how some colleges treat outside merit scholarships for students who get need-based financial aid:

List of outside scholarship + financial aid policies ("stacking", "scholarship displacement")

Since the interaction between outside scholarships and financial aid varies for different colleges, how about making a list of different college policies? Specify the order in which parts of the financial aid package are replaced. Use the following abbreviations for common terms (not all colleges include all of the following): UN = unmet need SL = student loan (federal direct loan) SW = student work expectation or work study SC = student contribution = SL + SW IG = institutional grants (i.e. grants from the college) PC = parent contribution expectation Full “stacking” examples (IG is reduced last): CMU: UN, SL, SW, PC, IG https://www.cmu.edu/sfs/financial-aid/types/scholarships-and-grants/outside.html Maryland public universities: (UN + SC + PC), IG https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-scholarship-displacement-20170704-story.html St. Olaf: SL, SW, PC, IG https://wp.stolaf.edu/financialaid/outside-scholarships/ Better for the student than typical policy, but not f…