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Student Loan Center

Section 1 - Information at Your Fingertips: Local Sources

Section 2 - Scholarships and Grants: Providing the Best Matches and Opportunities to Win

Section 3 - Introductions, Letters, and Applications

Section 4 - Contacting the Scholarship Sources

Section 5 - You, the Essay Contestant

Section 6 - Writing the Essay

Section 7 - Following ( or not ) the Contest Rules

Section 8 - Interviews and Speech Presentation Information

CONTACTING THE SCHOLARSHIP SOURCES
Section 4

"Why contact the grant and scholarship source?" Well, you wouldn't believe how often we have heard students/parents complain that the amount of the outside scholarship or grant received was used to replace a similar amount of the school's grant or scholarship awarded funds.

Once you win a scholarship or grant, CONTACT THE SOURCE IMMEDIATELY to determine if this is standard operating procedure, or if they prohibit the school from making your grant "IN PLACE OF" instead of "IN ADDITION TO".

You might not mind it if they would substitute the grant for a Stafford or Perkins loan, but this will only occur when Aardvarks sign at the Met.

Please check with the schools you've applied to, are considering, or have enrolled in, regarding outside grants and scholarships. Ask if outside funds will be considered in addition to, or in place of!

For example, "Gettysburg College" will use your outside award of $1,000 to replace $1,000 of its original $3,000 grant, making their original offer $2,000. In nearly every post-secondary institution, this is standard procedure, which is termed an in place of grant, or more correctly, an adjusted financial aid award.

Though it may seem fruitless to apply for, win, then have the school reduce your outside grant, you still received more than if you hadn't won a scholarship at all.

Another example, if "School A" had given you:

•	$6,000.00	Tuition Grant
•	$2,600.00	Perkins Loan
•	$5,500.00	Stafford loan (JR. eligibility)
•	$2,000.00	Pell Grant
•	$2,000.00	State Grant
Total financial aid award	$18,100.00
	+$6,000.00	Outside Scholarship
Financial aid award total	$24,100.00

Financial aid award total	$24,100.00
Total school year costs	-$21,800.00
Balance due 'Student C'	$2,300.00

Balance due 'Student C' ( $2,300 ) allows student to reduce the Stafford loan from $5,500.00 to $3,200.00 .

Total financial aid award	$18,100.00
'School A' decides to use	+$3,000.00	of Outside Scholarship
New financial aid total =	$21,100.00

Total school year costs	$21,800.00
New financial aid total =	-$21,100.00
Balance due 'School A'	$700.00

With a balance of $700.00 due the school 'Student C' has to pay $70.00 per month for 10 months to meet final costs.

If 'School A' gave 'Student C'...

	$6,000.00	Tuition Grant
	$2,600.00	Perkins Loan
	$5,500.00	Stafford loan (JR. eligibility)
	$2,000.00	Pell Grant
	$2,000.00	State Grant
Total financial aid award	$18,100.00

Total school year costs	$21,800.00
Total Financial Aid Award	-$18,100.00
Balance due 'School A'	$3,700.00

Out of Pocket expenses to meet total school costs would be $3,700.00 or $370.00 per month for ten months or the additional burden of applying for a $4,000 00 PLUS Loan.

We don't blame you if you sit there saying, "What on earth are they talking about?" Had not 'Student C' received the full outside scholarship amount for $6,000.00, 'Student C' would have not have had to use the full amount of the Stafford Loan (higher interest than the Perkins).

RECAP 1	Had the outside scholarship of $6,000.00 been an add to sum, 'Student C' could have reduced his/her Stafford Loan by $2,300.00
RECAP 2	Since the outside scholarship of $6,000.00 was an in place of sum 'Student C' only had to pay an additional $70.00 dollars per month for ten months had he/she wished.
RECAP 3	Student C did not win any outside grant or scholarship funding, the result, 'School A' is owed $3,700.00, which could be made in ten monthly payments at $370.00 per month or the taking out of a Parent PLUS Loan for approximately $4,000.00 at 9% to cover his/her costs.

Look carefully. . . though RECAP 1 is the ideal situation, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine RECAP 2 is vastly superior to RECAP 3 unless you want to owe $3,000.00 more.

Another gray lining in the storm cloud: Not all schools use the awards approach. Some colleges recognize the problematic nature of this practice and elect to deduct your full outside scholarship amount completely from your loans. If this is true, having worked with over 1,500 students, involving over 400 schools, we have yet to see this "miracle."

A second gray-lining in the college aid financial aid maze is, certain sources are adamant that their funding, won by 'Student C' attending 'School A', is not to be compromised in any possible manner. In other words, the $6,000.00 'Student C' won would be a definite add to fund.

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