<p>I am the president of a high school booster club that awards several $500 scholarships per year to seniors. We are finalizing the scholarship applications now. In the past we have written the check for the scholarship amount to the university the student is attending and sent it to the school directly. However, we would like for the students to have the option to use the money for books. Does anyone have any ideas or experience with how we could manage this on the accounting side? We are all parent volunteers so the easier the better. Thanks for any input.</p>
<p>I have no expertise in the accounting area (sorry!), but I had a thought about getting the money to the student without having it subtracted from their aid.</p>
<p>You could simply issue the check to the student, but if they are being completely honest (and we should encourage them to be, even if it doesn’t work to our financial advantage) they would then need to send a copy of the award letter to the university and their aid may be reduced.</p>
<p>Many university bookstores now have gift cards available - could your organization purchase $500 gift cards to give to the winners? The payment would still be made to the university, you would be assured that it was being spent on at least vaguely school-related (hopefully BOOKS) items, yet the financial aid office would possibly not be subtracting the $500 from the aid award. A copy of the award letter should still be submitted, but if the award is described as a “gift card” it may not have a negative impact on aid. In any case, the student would have the funds in advance to get those books purchased before classes start.</p>
<p>THANK you for your efforts to help out with the costs of college!</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply. Perhaps on the scholarship application we could say that we will award the money to the school or to the university bookstore. </p>
<p>We work really hard to raise funds for the scholarship money so I’m not too excited about simply replacing what the school has already awarded. We have one awardee from a few years ago who never collected the money and I suspect it was because of this policy. </p>
<p>Several of us on the committee have seniors but we haven’t really encounted the ins and outs of financial aid yet. So your thoughts are appreciated.</p>
<p>My family sponsors one of many scholarship awards given to local high school seniors. We have the school’s awards committee select the student each year, according to the parameters we set. I write the check to the student and the principal delivers it on award night. As far as I know, all the local scholarships ($100-$1,000) are distributed in this way and it seems that my niece’s Dollars for Scholars check for several thousand was also payable to her. We feel this is best because it allows the student to have that money to purchase a computer, books, or other needed items before the term starts. Although our award is only $250, I still would not be happy if a student’s aid was reduced!</p>
<p>Sk8rmom: Thanks for your reply. We were a little concerned that the student would use the money for pizza or something not school related. But I guess everything is supporting their education in some way. I will pass along your comment to our scholarship chair. That is also a good point about getting them the money before the semester starts.</p>
<p>My son received a scholarship in his name to be used for books. He told the college that he had the money and was using it for books. That was alright with the college and they recorded it as going for books. One of the requirements of the scholarship was that he was to send the receipt for the books back to the scholarship people which he did with a big thank you. That showed them that it was used correctly.</p>
<p>If the award is through an local scholarship committee that is part of Dollars for Scholars, you may want to check to see if the college they are going to supports the dollars for scholars matching program. I believe if they are on the program, they pledge not to reduce the amount of aid given as a result of winning that scholarship and in some instances will agree to match the outside award by a certain amount, up to 1-for-1. their website is [Scholarship</a> Programs - College Scholarships from Scholarship America](<a href=“http://www.scholarshipamerica.org%5DScholarship”>http://www.scholarshipamerica.org)</p>
<p>DS - Yes, I guess we figure that the committee picks responsible kids - most go to our honor grads. Since the parents are present for award night, they trust the kids to put it away for school expenses!</p>
<p>RedSox - Thanks for that info! Had no idea of that, of course SUNY Buffalo isn’t listed, but great to know anyway.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great information. I will check out the Dollars for Scholars program. I didn’t know about that. I am going to print out all this information for our Board to consider. That is a good point about having responsible kids. I am always very impressed with the kids who apply for the scholarships. Thanks.</p>