When will the $2500 National Merit scholarship(NMS) goes into college's account

<p>Does any body know when the NMS awarded money -$2500 being deposited into the attending college's personal account? Thanks!</p>

<p>I called the NMS folks about this and they basically said that final choice school did not need to be declared until the fall. By this, I think they mean mid-late August. They said they did not send the check until the beginning of the semester.</p>

<p>Will the school or us receive a check from NMS?</p>

<p>^^^</p>

<p>The Scholarship is nonrenewable and will be disbursed in a single payment sent to you though the college after you enroll in the fall following the offer of this scholarship</p>

<p>It will be in your name but sent to the bursar or equivalent person in the college.</p>

<p>Although the college may not have received the check from NMSC, the $2500 has already been credited to my son’s account.</p>

<p>^^^^ What I suppose you mean is that the College has taken this into account in the financial aid decision. Yes, colleges are informed that this student has been awarded the $2500 and intends to enroll in that institution. However, the student has the right to change the college name till August (or may be July) and this scholarship goes with the student, not the college. </p>

<p>So if the college is preparing a financial aid package they will consider that as a scholarship that you S is getting and reduce the other components accordingly. However, he will not get his hands on the money till he joins the college as the college will not receive the money either. Students could get of a wait list in June or July and take that money elsewhere, hence you cannot withdraw the money now.</p>

<p>The son of a friend of mine was a National Merit Scholar and when the financial aid office was notified of his award, they increased the amount the family has to pay by almost the same amount.</p>

<p>This bothers me and makes me wonder if the whole thing is worthwhile other than great bragging rights.</p>

<p>^^^^ Unfortunately, in some schools that is the policy with scholarships. They offset the scholarship amount by reducing their grants proportionately. Let us say for example, college grants were $20,000 and the EFC was $10,000. When the student gets a scholarship of $2500, some schools will reduce the EFC to $7500 and the scholarship is used to bridge the difference, with the school’s grant remaining unchanged at $20,000. So the parent pays only $7500 effectively. Some schools will reduce the loan component of the FA package.</p>

<p>Other schools will apply the scholarship to increase the parental contribution, so that they can reduce the grant amount. So in this case, the College will give a grant of $17,500 and expect the parent to pay their EFC of $10,000 plus the scholarship amount of $2500. The parent still pays $10,000 effectively.</p>

<p>This would be true of most scholarships, not just the NMSC scholarship. From the colleges view point, they are giving the student their own money as a grant and it is therefore incumbent on the student to try and get other sources of funding. The college could argue that they can use the money elsewhere (possibly to give grants and scholarships to other deserving students) and hence they are justified in reducing the grant amount. Parents would prefer that the money be used to reduce their contribution, but you have to remember that college’s are not obliged to give you grants. They could very well have given the student a loan package rather than grants. </p>

<p>You have to remember that grant component of FA is the college’s own money. I am not saying that is right or wrong, I am just pointing out the position a college could take. As I had mentioned, some colleges may use outside scholarships to reduce parental contribution, others to reduce the school’s own contribution. I would personally prefer that any scholarships be used to first reduce any loans in the FA package first rather than grants, but schools can do it any way they want as it is their decision (and they would argue, their money).</p>