<p>Could somebody please explain to me what is "grant-in-aid" money and how is it different from scholarship money?</p>
<p>I think scholarship amount will not change over 4 years and may depend on minimum GPA to continue. If grant-in-aid is need base aid then it can be changed accordingly to family income. I saw some college also uses the term “scholarship” for need base aid.</p>
<p>My daughter applied to something that I thought was a “scholarship” and was required to submit an essay, references, personal info, etc. I don’t think that she had to provide any financial infomation, however. Upon review of her application, I noticed that the award was called “grant-in-aid”. The application was so similar to a scholarship application and I was wondering what is the difference between the two.</p>
<p>A “grant” is money as opposed to loan or work study. A “grant in aid” is money in the aid package. Most people will use th term scholarship but it is not technically so, as that implies merit. A merit grant is a scholarship for some attribute that the school wants, a grant in aid is money given through the financial aid process.</p>
<p>Thanks, that makes sense. There was criteria regarding the eligible majors for applicants and the funds will given directly to the college on behalf of the student.</p>