<p>I am a first year student at a VA college, transferring to another VA college this fall 2012.</p>
<p>Here's the dealio:</p>
<p>Last year I was accepted to Uni 1 and Uni 2 for 2011-2012.</p>
<p>Uni 1 offered about $6,500 in renewable merit scholarship,
Uni 2 about $4,800, also renewable. </p>
<p>Despite the difference I decided to attend Uni 2 because it was further away (just had to have that college experience) and they offered me more money in grants. Turns out I'm now looking to transfer to Uni 1 for next year after all. But when I applied to transfer, I found out I can't get any merit scholarship money because for transfer students to get them, you have to have an associates degree. Naturally I'm pretty annoyed by this- I was offered $6,500 hardly a year ago and now nothing!!!</p>
<p>My question is, is there any way to dispute this with the university? I'm transferring as an Honors student with a 4.0 GPA (4.6 in high school) and yet I won't receive any scholarship money, although other students with similar and even lower stats have them. My brother mentioned that I could file for some sort of Education Discrimination. Is this reasonable/plausible? Since it's a university policy, should I just not even bother trying to challenge it??</p>
<p>Not to mention my financial aid (grants, federal loans, etc.) doesn't cover all of my need...it's pretty frustrating to be turned down scholarship money they offered me last year, just because I don't have a degree.</p>
<p>You can always look into getting more and appeal, but what you are experiencing is standard for most colleges. $5500Freshman year is usually when the best aid and award packages are offered. Even many schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need, exclude transfers in that guarantee, and waitlisted students. And usually when you turn down an award, you can’t get it again. There are some awards that might be held for a student, but that is the rare exception. If you are intending to sue, that is the way things work, so you have an awfully big field to sue. It’s not just university policy; it’s the way things are generally done with colleges.</p>
<p>Also, very, very few colleges guarantee to meet financial need even as they define it. </p>
<p>You could go to community college this second year, and keep the costs down that way, keep those grades up and then transfer with that AA and be eligible for the award. There are colleges that have zero awards for transfers so you’re doing pretty well IMO finding a school that even offers such a goody.</p>
<p>Your situation is exactly why, over and over again, students are advised to look into transfer policies regarding aid before thinking “I’ll just transfer after my first year.” Over and over again on this site, students are reminded that transfer students typically do not get the best financial aid awards. Those awards are reserved for incoming freshmen. Stay at your school for another year, and then transfer to Uni 1, when you will then have the equivalent of an associates, and be eligible for more aid. You don’t get to make the rules, you just have to play the game the way they tell you to. The smartest players research the rules ahead of time.</p>