How do you begin the process of finding college scholarships? Step 1 is finding out what type of scholarship you’re eligible for: need-based or merit. Need-based financial aid is aid that meets the difference between Cost of Attendance (COA) at a college and your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) (which is being renamed to Student Aid Index or SAI). Your EFC…
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Merit-based Aid
Scholarships and grants are free money. Does it matter which kind of free money you get, as long as you get some? As a matter of fact, it does. Just to refresh: colleges offer two primary types of financial aid, need-based and merit-based. Need-based aid is allocated on the basis of the FAFSA or CSS Profile and reduces or even…
Outside scholarships can be a great way to stretch your college budget. They can also be an exercise in frustration with countless applications yielding small dollars. Knowing the 5Ws and H of outside scholarships can make your search more rewarding. Let’s start with What is an outside scholarship. An outside scholarship is a scholarship offered by anyone other than the…
Families of college-bound students are always looking for strategies to manage their Expected Family Contribution, and I’m happy to oblige. However, lowering your EFC is no guarantee of getting financial aid. And that’s why net cost is important. Your EFC is what the federal needs analysis methodology says is the amount you can spend on college. You can estimate it…
The College Board’s annual Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid report was released recently. Among the headline findings: college tuition prices increased at extremely low rates for the second year in a row, reflecting both a combination of continued impacts of the pandemic and enrollment pressures from demographic trends. Average net prices, adjusted for inflation, are at the lowest…