<p>I realize that the school year has just started yet need guidance from those who know far more about this process than do I (and I did search the archives about this topic)...</p>
<p>If a student starts at a particular school for fall semester, I've read (on our list) that their financial aid options may be "less" for spring semester than perhaps if they wait until the fall semester of their sophomore year to transfer. Is this accurate?</p>
<p>Is it also accurate that institutional aide (awarded to an incoming freshman) is virtually non-existent to a transfer student, whether in the spring semester of their freshman year or at any other time? </p>
<p>Any insights appreciated.</p>
<p>Policies on need based and merit aid for transfer students varies significantly by school. Some schools offer no institutional merit aid to transfers, some offer limited aid to transfers and some offer the same aid to transfers as to others (typically these are very well endowed schools that meet full need for all admitted students). There are some schools that do NOT award institutional aid to second semester transfers at all. </p>
<p>So…you need to check EACH SCHOOL’S policy on the awarding of aid to transfers.</p>
<p>And most schools use their significant MERIT awards to attract incoming freshmen.</p>
<p>Transfer students would be able to get entitled federally funded aid, the remainder of a Pell Grant if they qualify, and Stafford loans. BUT that’s about it for guaranteed aid for transfers.</p>
<p>Agree with thumper. Here is a transfer merit aid thread that I started, while still a work in progress, you can see that there are far fewer merit scholarships offered and the amounts they are worth is generally much less than for fr admits:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/983014-merit-scholarships-transfer-students.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/983014-merit-scholarships-transfer-students.html</a></p>