<p>hey, maybe you can help me. I have been very lucky, and I have received a scholarship that covers tuition and most of my room/board at school. I have also received a few outside scholarships (Coke, AXA, maybe others that are pending). My question - can I use the Coke money to buy a computer or for books/supplies? How does this work? Does the money get credited to my student account and any expenses I charge to the student account are covered? Or is scholarship money only for room/board and regardless of scholarships, my parents will still need to pay for personal expenses (like a computer?)? </p>
<p>I am hoping you can share some of your experiences in this area, particularly if your son or daughter received Coke or AXA or Toyo or Best Buy or any of those scholarships. I know they send the funds directly to the school, but I'm wondering what these funds can be used for. Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>Your school may have the right to decrease the amount of your school-funded scholarship to compensate for the scholarship money you got from other sources. </p>
<p>Their thinking goes like this: Joe's financial need is calculated at $20,000, so we gave him a $20,000 scholarship. But now, Joe is getting $10,000 from other sources. That means that his need is only $10,000. Therefore we only need to give him $10,000.</p>
<p>Usually, though, if you get an outside scholarship, colleges will decrease the amounts of the loan and job components of your financial aid package before touching your scholarship. But if the outside money is so much that it wipes out the whole loan and job, they can decrease your scholarship.</p>
<p>it depends on the school as different schools have different policies for how they handle outside scholarships. Your best bet would be to check the financial aid policy at the schools that you have been admitted to or to directly contact the financial aid offices.</p>
<p>As many schools will have no problem letting you use your outside scholarship for a computer, maybe books, many schools will not let you "profit" from your outside scholarships. </p>
<p>This means that they will first reduce any gaps in your financial aid package (if your school does not meet 100 % demonstrated need)</p>
<p>They will then reduce the self help portion (student loans/workstudy) of your financial aid package.</p>
<p>Finally they will reduce any aid that they give you (their need based financial aid/scholarships).</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that any scholarship monies over the cost of tuition and fees will be considered taxable income.</p>
<p>i don't think we qualify for any financial need, especially since the school is already funding tuition and most of room/board. so (my family is working on the budget right now) we are thinking my costs will include remaining room board of around $6000 and book/supplies of $2000 and then computer and other personal expenses like that. I'm pretty sure that my dad verified that the Coke money would be on top of the tuition scholarship (the school won't reduce their dollars) but it is worth checking again. Let's say that the school actually does pay tuition and room/board. Well then, can I use Coke and AXA for books and computer and student account, or do those only get credited to room/board? Thanks everyone.</p>
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i don't think we qualify for any financial need, especially since the school is already funding tuition and most of room/board. </p>
<p>we are thinking my costs will include remaining room board of around $6000 and book/supplies of $2000 and then computer and other personal expenses like that.
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<p>IS there a parent & student contribution (EFC) as part of your financial aid package? If yes, then the outside scholarships will not reduce this.</p>
<p>my tuition, room/board is merit money, not need based. So we haven't talked at all about EFC. I got one of the named tuition scholarships, also $ above that for dean's scholarship, and the school guarantees another amount for National Merit because I named them as my first choice. So none of this has to do with financial aid, just very fortunate that my abilites/ECs matched what they are looking for, and so they recognized me with merit money. </p>
<p>I don't know as much though about how all of the different scholarships add up. I know CC is full of families that have these same combinations of awards and I was hoping some people might have direct experience with this situation and could tell me if it all works like I'm thinking or if there are suprises, assumptions that I need to consider. </p>
<p>Merit money is considered financial aid (it is just not need based aid). </p>
<p>Your financial aid letter will still be based on the following premise:</p>
<p>cost of attendance-EFC = demonstrated need.</p>
<p>worse case scenario, if the cost of attendance at your school is 45000 and you have a 45000 EFC (essentially stating you are not eligible for need based financial aid) and you get $37,000 in merit money from the school, there will still be 8,000 unmet which would be part of your EFC. As stated earlier, barring the cost of a computer, many schools will not let you profit or pocket the money so your parents may still have to write a check. </p>
<p>I would wait until you receive your actual financial aid package from the school so that you have a better idea as to where you stand.</p>
<p>MM
At S's school, you cannot be packaged for more aid than the published cost of attendance (not the cost of tuition..higher) this is so for ANY source of aid,internal or external.He was awarded more aid in total than the published amount,so his package was adjusted accordingly, and we turned down an external source of scholarship.
The published cost of attendance included,room,board,transportation,etc.
S gets a refund amount from the college after his tuition room and board are deducted.Its his $$ to do with as he wishes.
Every school must publish their cost of attendance.You'll find it somewhere on their website.</p>
<p>your best bet is to contact the FA office at your school (I would do it via email) and ask them your specific questions. schools have different policies.</p>
<p>your best case scenario it this -- your outside scholarships will be added to the scholarships that originate from the school that you have already been awarded. The money is sent to the school for your use. </p>
<p>The school has an official "budget" that is determined each semester -- and that budget (also known as the cost of attendance) is comprised of tuition and fees, room and board, books, transportation and personal spending money. some colleges do include the cost of a computer in the freshman budget -- and if they don't, many colleges will add in that cost if asked.</p>
<p>so -- again, best case scenario -- the school has all your money and has this cost of attendance. It will then apply your scholarship funds to the cost of attendance and any additional monies will stay with the school (you don't get to keep the extras). However -- school do include transportation and personal spending money and books in the cost of attendance (and maybe a computer) so that amount would be disburse to you in the form of a check.</p>
<p>contact them with specifics and you will know exactly how it will work out.</p>
<p>Like cathymee's S, my S also has scholarships that enable him to get a refund to use as needed. His largest scholarship is from outside source and two smaller merit scholarships are from the school. When all is deposited into his student account, he gets a refund after all fees have been paid.
Note....it worked this way during his freshman year when he lived in the dorm and still works this way now that he moved off campus. Many students at his school live off campus so this isn't unusual. The money that would have paid his dorm expense now goes toward his apt. expense (about the same amt as dorm). He still has an on campus meal plan that is paid for by the scholarships. S. is at a State U. You need to check with the financial aid office of yur school to be sure how it works.</p>
<p>In theory, the limitations of total resources not exceeding the COA should not apply to students who do not receive need-based aid. The limitations are the result of the federal guidelines related to need based aid. </p>
<p>They key in this example is the exact definition of the merit aid. If it is pure merit aid and is not a hybrid package of merit/need, the student should be able to add all the scholarships and use it for the total COA. Depending on the outside scholarship terms, it is possible --albeit rare-- to "make money." </p>
<p>For what it is worth, in the event the school intents to "absorb" the overfunding, the student should make sure to include the amount of taxes that will need to be paid on the scholarship income. As a reminder, a full ride student at a school with a 40-48,000 COA may very well have a 12 to 16,000 taxable income. The amount of taxes due on April 15 might not be "that" trivial. </p>
<p>thanks everyone. I called a student who received this scholarship last year, and also the Coke, and asked him his experience. He said the Coke was on top of the school scholarship and the school did allow him to use the money to buy a computer, but he also gave me real good advice and said don't buy the computer until i have signed a contract with the school, that he wasn't sure if they would cover supplies purchased before signing the contract. </p>
<p>If anyone else has anything to add, i'd love to hear it!</p>