<p>i am totally thrown off by the whole financial aid thing.</p>
<p>Say a school's tuition is 30,000 a year, with rooms and boards, books, personal expesnes, the whole expense comes out to be 40,000.</p>
<p>Now say the school gives you 20,000 for need-based financial aid. and i also get a half-tuition merit scholarship. </p>
<p>At the end, will i only have to 5,000 dollars each year?</p>
<p>Nope! Since the merit scholarship has to be applied to reduce the need first.</p>
<p>Let me extrapolate (ooo, SAT word):</p>
<p>Cost: 40,000
EFC (which you didn't report, but I will assume is): 15,000
Need (Cost - EFC) = 25,000</p>
<p>Ler's say you have a $5000 student loan and a $20,000 need based scholarship. If you get some 1/2 tuition merit award, I have to fit that in your need somewhere, so most colleges will reduce your loan first and then your need-based scholarship 2nd. </p>
<p>They can only touch your EFC if your financial aid is completely wiped out by the merit. As an example, if you got a merit award for $30,000 in this situation, the first reduction would be to the loan (probably), the next reduction to the grant, and then the final $5000 could reduce what your parents (and you) have to pay...</p>
<p>See <a href="http://daniel.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/10/myth_5_the_more.html%5B/url%5D">http://daniel.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/10/myth_5_the_more.html</a> for a more detailed picture of how this works.</p>
<p>then merit scholarship sucks !!</p>
<p>students have to pay the EFC part no part how excellent they are acadmically, socially, and all</p>
<p>so merit-scholarships are best for those who has no need at all</p>
<p>Is the Method. The problem you describe is Political but fair in that everyone knows how the system works. </p>
<p>IMHO, financial aid programs have become a Welfare Program that does not necessarily benefit the most needy or the most deserving.</p>
<p>And that is the fundamental problem of merit-based scholarship funding. I know, I know, I work at an institution which doesn't have the same pressures at most, but I have only been here for 4 years and have worked in many other institutions that did face the same enrollment pressures. When families start applying to colleges because the cost can be reduced by merit (which I don't blame families for) the result is less money for those who truly need it.</p>
<p>Nash, the benefit of the merit will be to reduce what you might have to get in loans or work... Or to give grants to students who don't need them...</p>
<p>There is the problem, "give grants to students who don't need them" thereby leaving less for students who do.</p>