<p>Hey GoJumbos2013: That will teach you to get merit. In America, merit’s dead, man. Need is king.</p>
<p>The requirement of reporting makes me angry. My school is offering me no merit scholarships, only need. I have no required loans (but I qualified for and have applied for both types of Fed. Stafford). I have about $2,000 work study. Beyond all that, I still need to come up with about $7,000 per year to go. And this year I got a small outside scholarship.</p>
<p>If I need money, and I’m not even receiving merit aid from my own school, why should the merit aid I earn from private institutions be used to reduce my school’s help instead of my own payment? The scholarship isn’t for my university! They didn’t earn it–I did. So why is the benefit going to my school and not to me?</p>
<p>It will reduce work-study (as per my school’s policy), but I’d still have to work during the school year to help my parents afford the $7,000 still left over. Having no work study would just make it harder to get in line for a campus job, since I won’t have that title attached guaranteeing me a certain kind of work with enough income. This isn’t right.</p>
<p>Did you actually ask your school? It seems odd that they’ll reduce WS before filling the gap…or was your parent’s EFC $7,000+?</p>
<p>Wisteria, would it be fair to reduce your aid if you won the lottery?</p>
<p>GoJumbos - make sure you ask them to use that $500 to reduce your loan. Work study is important and you can earn that money to pay off books, supplies, etc… unless you don’t need the money, of course.</p>
<p>The schools only have so much work study funds to allot, so while it does not seem like aid to some. it is aid. Without it many could not be at their present schools. Somehow many seem to lose track of the fact that without the guaranteed loans and work study they may not be where they are.</p>
<p>wisteriawings- I know exactly how you feel. I got a decent amount of grants, a loan, and work study from my school. My mom can’t afford my EFC. I got enough to the point where my school can take away my loan, my work study, and some of my grants. It’s not fair that I still have to come up with my EFC. It would be nice to use my scholarship money to cover my EFC and then reduce my loan. And I as well have to find a job but won’t have the guarantee of work study since that will be taken away due to the scholarships I worked so hard to receive.</p>
<p>If I need money, and I’m not even receiving merit aid from my own school, why should the merit aid I earn from private institutions be used to reduce my school’s help instead of my own payment? The scholarship isn’t for my university! They didn’t earn it–I did. So why is the benefit going to my school and not to me?</p>
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<p>Because the awards from your school are NEED based … and you now have less need due to the outside scholarships.</p>
<p>If you had received merit scholarships from the school, you would have received that much less need based aid.</p>
<p>The point being missed here is that need aid comes from taxpayers, in the case of government aid, or fellow students, their families, and alums, in the case of institutional aid. If your need is reduced, by any means, then it is only fair to the taxpayers and your fellow students to reduce the aid taken out of their pockets and given to you. </p>
<p>If you get an outside scholarship, the taxpayers and your fellow students blow you kisses and thank yous. If you win the lottery, same thing. If you find a shoe box of cash, same thing. Your need is reduced. Your aid is reduced. Thank you.</p>
<p>Whitney, work study is not guaranteed income and you would have had to find/apply for your own WS job anyway. There are many kids who can’t find work study jobs, due to schedule or other issues, and many more who can’t use their entire WS award. Most campuses have alot of non-WS jobs as well and some pay better than WS (the “silver lining”, especially for a bright kid like you!). The biggest advantage of WS is that it doesn’t impact your EFC for the following year, but you do have some built in income protection ($3750 + taxes for 09/10) in the formula.</p>
<p>As far as taking away your loan goes, are you talking about a Stafford loan? This doesn’t sound right. Unless the COA = all FA awarded (including scholarships), you should still be eligible for an unsubsidized Stafford which could be applied toward your EFC. Your EFC isn’t a factor in calculating Stafford loan eligiblity. If you haven’t already, I would inquire about the possibility of an increase in COA to cover extra costs (perhaps for a computer, or other related expenses not currently included/underestimated) - this has been successful for others and is something my D is planning to do as well. You might also ask your mom if she could handle making the interest payment on your Stafford loans every year (should be around $400 for each year that you borrowed) to keep them from “snowballing”. She may be able to receive tax credits/deductions which would help offset this expense. This site provides a good overview:
[FinAid</a> | Other Types of Aid | Education Tax Benefits](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Taxability of Scholarships - Finaid)</p>
<p>My school’s COA is about 42k and I have an unmet need of about 3-4k and I recently got a scholarship from my local Elk’s Lodge for $200. They personally gave me their check made out to me, and I really want to use that bit of money for a textbook in college. I’m afraid if I report it, they’ll reduce my aid or apply it to something else , when I could be getting a book.</p>
<p>If you have **unmet need **above your EFC, it should be no problem. Report the scholarship.
You should be much more afraid of losing the near $40,000 in aid you have been awarded by not reporting the $200. </p>
<p>Seriously.</p>
<p>Sk8rmom, my family’s FAFSA-based EFC is below $7,000. My school calculated my EFC as twice that. It’s possible for us to do, but we have to take out Stafford loans, which my school said they considered unnecessary with their calculated need. I am not by any means unhappy with the aid I’ve been given–I expected much less, and as the only thing that could have kept me from enrolling were it lower, the financial aid decision delighted me.</p>
<p>But my school’s specific policy is to use outside scholarships to reduce loans first, then work-study, and then grant. According to their calculations, they have met all of my need, so they won’t be using it to reduce my EFC.</p>
<p>I understand that work-study is not free money. I also understand, though, that work-study status is intended to ensure job placement for students who choose to apply appropriately and can fit it into their schedules.</p>
<p>Still, the incentive and risk avoidance inherent in just reporting the scholarship seems to outweigh the irritation at having to do so. I understand the arguments, and I think I can find a job, work-study or not, somewhere around campus.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice/experience, folks.</p>
<p>What are the tax implications of these awards? My D won 5 scholarships last night at her schools senior awards night. They are all from local organizations. They are all checks made out to her. </p>
<p>1 for $250.00
3 for $500.00
1 for $2,500.00 but it is paid in installments. $1,000.00 this year and $500.00 for each of her next 3 years in college.</p>
<p>Are these reported on her tax returns? Would the last one only be reported as $1,000.00?</p>
<p>There is a gap of several thousand dollars at her University btw. what she was given in grants/aid and what our efc is. She has work study and I really want her to be able to keep it because she wants to do research and the kids with work study get the good research jobs. I am happy about the scholarships, but am VERY annoyed that her aid is now in jeopardy.</p>