Is this a myth or reality that some colleges sweeten the FA pot for particularly attractive candidates? I have heard parents claim their children received their need-based financial aid in full, and then merit aid on top of that as an extra incentive. The implication is that their S or D was so wonderful that the school really wanted to make sure the student chose to attend, and thus essentially gave them more than what they needed based on FAFSA and/or the CSS.
However, the schools we’ve visited seem to offer either / or, meaning they give FA to those who need it regardless of any merit ranking, and then academic or talent merit aid to wealthier students as a way to lure them in. One school we visited does claim to give both types of aid to one student, but it’s definitely not stacked. Merit gets put in the pot first, and then need-based aid is added to reach the total need amount. No FA student is going to ever get more than their calculated need, in other words (not that I expect they should, of course). Affluent students, however, do receive more than they technically need, since their EFC is the total COA yet they may receive as much as a $25,000 merit award.
Can anyone verify that their talented S or D received a “sweetened financial aid pot?”
My son got “stacked” everywhere but he looked at lower tier schools where he was in the top of the stats and where the schools were eager to enroll boys.
Some will stack, but only up to replacement of student loan or expected work earnings.
Some embed merit in nominally need based aid as “preferential packaging”. Sometimes, this is named, such as Columbia Egleston, but sometimes it is unnamed.
@TheGFG I hesitate to say what my EFC was for DS1 ( extremely high but cut in half this year for DS2) however he was awarded 40,000 per year in merit aid to attend Loyola Marymount University. I pay well below my EFC for him. They also offered him WS and he accepted it.
I have been keeping a list of examples that I find on other threads. So far it is a short list: Kenyon and Dickinson. I didn’t explicitly ask if stacked merit and FA ended up more than EFC, though, so you may not want to add to the list.
Dickinson was the college I mentioned in the OP that will give both types but not in excess of need. I specifically asked and they said they don’t stack.
Well, you’re not completely wrong. It’s possible to get more aid than you need, but the aid isn’t stacked. So if you need $5,000 in FA and win a merit award of $20,000, you do come out ahead. You would get the $20,000 or $15,000 more than you need. But you wouldn’t get $25,000.
Chicago gives 4K for NMF or NHRP on top of need-based aid. They also say outside scholarship will not reduce need-based aid. I’ve read that for other schools but can’t remember them.
College awards need based aid in the form of grants + loan + work study.
College awards additional merit aid, leaving grant in place, but reducing loan +work study expectations – but student still remains eligible to take out loans or take a work study job - so a net gain for the student.
It works with colleges using the CSS profile because there is often a gap between need as determined by FAFSA and the college’s definition of need. So the college says it is meeting 100% need plus the merit aid, but the student still shows up as being eligible for federal programs based on the lower FAFSA EFC.
I’m not sure drawing up a list is helpful because preferential packaging is far more common among schools that don’t promise to meet 100% need. So the favored applicant gets generous, “need” plus aid — and the less favored may not even come close to having need met.
I do know when my son started college he was given an initial financial aid award which seemed very generous; and then later he was given a $2000 college sponsored NM scholarship, which was added to his existing award. (Nothing went away - same loans, same work study, and a grant that was +$2000 over and above the initial offer). But the way that college packaged aid made it had to determine what they characterized as “need” based…
Remember, that while some schools meet full need, most schools don’t. So for many schools, there is a gap that merit aid can fill (without going beyond “need”.)
This is a good thread. Anyone else, perhaps a talent based award like in music or theater, get a package containing merit and financial aid where the school met their need plus more? Any that did so without loans or work study?
Both my kids had stacking done the first year. D1 got a merit award, a talent award, a (very small) need award. Also used an outside scholarship so her EFC was higher than remaining amount. We did it without loans or work study, but I paid it from my savings.
D2 also got merit, athletic, and a few school grants, plus the outside scholarship. All stacked to exceed her EFC, and savings paid the difference.