Hello. I am currently a low-income student and am super grateful to have received the aid that I did to attend my current college. It is a great help and one of the reasons why I was able to pursue a higher education in the first place. I recently met a classmate who claims to be low-income on her college and internet profiles and has received substantial aid from this. However, this does not seem to be the case in person (e.g. expensive clothes, frequent vacations, new tech items). Though I don’t know her enough personally to understand her family background or situation, morally, I find this a bit disturbing to see scholarships go to people who don’t seem to need it. I know this is a social issue that may never fully be solved, but I want to know what I can do now to prevent things like this from happening to other students who are truly in need. Thank you.
You have no idea how much aid or what type of aid another is getting regardless of what they lead you to think. Nor is it your business.
You should be a good student, worrying about yourself.
And do nothing related to this other student - it’s not your business.
Good luck.
I agree with the previous poster that you do not truly know how much financial aid and merit this student receives, nor their actual level of need.
You also don’t know how much debt this student, or their family, may be carrying (credit cards, car loans, mortgage, personal loans, etc.) in order to finance their way of life.
When it comes to judging someone else’s financial health and stability, things are not always as they appear outwardly. And, most people would be offended if you comment on their spending habits. This is true well beyond college. People just tend to mind their own business when it comes to another person’s financial decisions and priorities.
This!
It’s none of your business. Stay out of it.
You should be thrilled you are in a great situation and not concern yourself with the financial status of other students.
There are different types of scholarships. Yours appears to be a need-based grant. Your classmate might have earned a merit scholarship based on academic performance in high school. Those can be rewarded to anyone regardless of financial status. There’s no way to know without delving into their personal finances, and that’s not a rabbit hole you want to go down. Not unless you want to get dirty looks 
You don’t know their finances, so it’s not something you need to worry about. Let her be her and “you do you.” Everyone’s cool!
Just to be clear, debt level normally isn’t included in financial aid calculations.
Right. That is why I do not recommend judging finances based on outward appearances. A student’s family can go into debt to live beyond their means and still qualify for financial aid.
I think their point was just because people spend a lot doesn’t mean they actually have a lot to spend. I had a friend growing up who ran to the mall when her mom paid for a bit of the maxed out credit card.
- Some colleges give need-based financial aid to students from families up to the 95th percentile of household income.
- Some people have a skewed sense of what “low income” is. For example, someone with 80th percentile income may feel like they have “low income” when they are surrounded by people with 95th percentile income.
- Some people spend lots of money on “obvious” or status things, even though they cannot really afford it (going into and staying in debt).
- Some people manage to find ways to buy what appear to be expensive things for much less than what they appear to cost.
- Don’t worry about counting other people’s money except in specific situations where they are asking you for your money.