<p>"an adjustment in need-based aid will only be required if the total Aid exceeds your calculated need."</p>
<p>Assuming no need-based aid, only academic or athletic merit aid, does this mean that outside scholarship money will reduce EFC? Thanks!</p>
<p>Here are m thoughts, take them for what they are worth…</p>
<p>The statement says nothing about EFC. It specifically addresses need-based aid.</p>
<p>So, to get need you subtract EFC from the total COA. If you get academic or athletic money this would reduce the need. If the resultant need (after academic & althelitc money) is lower than the original need-based aid amount, the need-based aid will be adjusted downward accordingly.</p>
<p>Both the EFC and COA remain unchanged.</p>
<p>Make sense.</p>
<p>Since the statement is addressing need based aid, I would not think that it would affect you. However, there may be other statements elsewhere that regarding merit aid. In my experience, pure merit aid is not affected at all by outside scholarships.</p>
<p>Some kids get a combination of merit and financial aid awards. In that case the financial aid part of the award which would be the need based aid, might have to be adjusted if outside scholarship money is received. Yes, it is unfair, but that financial aid award was given only because a need existed and if that need is met from another source, it no longer exists. That is the difference between merit and need based aid.</p>
<p>Thank you! I am expecting no need-based aid, based on our EFC and athletic and academic awards. My daughter is in the running for some private scholarships and I was wondering how they will be handled. In searching her school’s website, above statement was all I could find regarding outside scholarships. Her guidance counselor has said these scholarships are stackable, so we are hoping that money might reduce our out of pocket expense.</p>
<p>A merit scholarship without a component of need should not be affected by outside scholarships. However, there COULD be exceptions to this statement, so don’t hold it as the gospel truth. </p>
<p>What the statement from the school means is that if there is any need based aid in the award package (grants, need based scholarships, work study, subsidized/Perkins loans), other money that comes in can reduce the Need that allowed the Need Based aid to be awarded. For example: Johnny’s COA is $15,000. His EFC is $8000. His Need is COA-EFC=$7,000. The school awards him $3500 subsidized loan (need based) and $2000 unsubsidized loan (non need based) and $2000 work study (need based). He has a gap of Need=7000-3500 sub loan-2000 work study=1500. He could bring in $1500 scholarships without reducing any Need based aid. Once he hits that amount, need based aid must be reduced. If he gets a $4000 scholarship, his sub loan/work study will be reduced (depends on school as to which gets reduced first, but let’s say his school reduces loans first). In this case, he would now have Need=7000-4000 scholarship=3000 … so the work study would stay at $2000 and the sub loan would be reduced to 1000.</p>
<p>Now we have to look at the total picture, because the school cannot award any federal aid in excess of COA. Before totaling his aid, you need to understand how loans work … he can get $5500 in loans as a freshman, so reducing his sub eligibility to 1000 increases his unsub eligibility to $4500. So total his aid: $1000 sub loan+$4500 unsub loan+$4000 scholarship+$2000 work study=$11,500. His aid total isn’t at COA, so nothing is reduced.</p>
<p>Now let’s say he hits the scholarship lottery. He gets a $10,000 scholarship on top of the $4000 scholarship. COA-EFC=15000-10000=5000. His scholarships count against Need, and the $14000 is > $5000 so no need based aid can be awarded. The student might be able to borrow unsub loan …</p>
<p>Total the aid, and it is $14,000. The student’s COA is $15,000. So the student could get a $1000 unsub loan. </p>
<p>If the scholarships total $20,000 there is no unsub loan, as total aid exceeds COA.</p>
<p>The schools my kids attended would allow them to have all the merit aid they could get and stack it onto the award the school itself gave. There are tax implications to this, if it exceeds the tution/books/ materials cost of schools. </p>
<p>As Kelsmom says, it is something that should be confirmed with your school just in case, though in most situations merit money is not affected by outside awards.</p>
<p>Thank you for your very detailed explanation! I am hoping that the merit scholarship(s) won’t be affected by any outside scholarships she is awarded and that it will help our out of pocket. I will have two in college next year and although we do not claim my son as a dependent, and he files as an independent, we still provide significant support. I am unable to work outside the home because I am the primary caretaker of my 85 yr old father. And we need to be prepared for the possibility of a nursing home if/when I am unable to care for him. And with an EFC of nearly $30,000, any reduction in out of pocket
expense would be welcomed.</p>
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<p>Even IF your son files his own independent taxes, if he is an undergrad who you provide more than 1/2 of the support for, I hope you still listed him as a member of your household AND if he is in college listed that TWO would be in college.</p>
<p>Your son’s tax filing status has nothing to do with the FAFSA. He can file his own taxes…and not be claimed on yours and STILL be counted as a household member who is also a college student in your family.</p>
<p>I did indicate 2 in college, but I didn’t list him as a member of our household. He is a 24 yr old undergrad and filed his own fafsa this year, therefore I didn’t think we could claim him as part of our household, even though we still contribute a significant amount to his expenses. I have the same issue with my father. He lives with us, but has his own income, so we don’t claim him, even though we do provide support. Is this correct, or should I have reported 5 in our household?</p>