Need CSS or FAFSA if only applying for non-need merit?

[fieldsports]

I, too, have noticed that some schools say everyone is considered for merit (presumably, without requiring FAFSA) and other schools say that FAFSA is required to be considered for anything, including merit.

I sometimes wonder if the latter schools require FAFSA because they think there might be some families eligible for need-based aid that don't realize it, particularly non-institutional dollars, and the school wants to pull in as many of those dollars as possible.

I also wonder (in a more jaded way) if they want to see your financials so that they can feel more confident in being cheap with merit money (if they conclude that you can well afford the school, and the kid wants to go there). Just the same way a car dealer would love to see your FAFSA before quoting a price.

[DeskPotato]

I sometimes wonder if the latter schools require FAFSA because they think there might be some families eligible for need-based aid that don't realize it, particularly non-institutional dollars, and the school wants to pull in as many of those dollars as possible.

I also wonder (in a more jaded way) if they want to see your financials so that they can feel more confident in being cheap with merit money (if they conclude that you can well afford the school, and the kid wants to go there). Just the same way a car dealer would love to see your FAFSA before quoting a price.

I have to think it's a little of both.

GW, for example, has two types of merit scholarships. They have one type of scholarship (I believe) that can be awarded to students who have no documented need. If I'm not mistaken, it might be called the Presidential and it was recently something on the order of $15K/year. However, they ALSO have a big, big bucket of merit scholarships that can be awarded, on the basis of merit, to students who have documented need. My understanding was that if your EFC<COA by ANY AMOUNT, then your student would be eligible to get scholarships from that bucket. Since GW's COA is uber-high, you could fall into that bucket with an EFC of 50k, and maybe even luck into a really big ($30K) merit scholarship "for students with need."

I think the more typical scenario is that people apply for need-based aid and do not qualify but may be awarded the no-need merit scholarship at GW. I had a theory that not applying for need-based aid might have decreased one's likelihood of being awarded the Presidential, because they were reserving it for [meritorious] students who had anticipated getting some need-based aid and weren't going to get it. But, I understand there were people who got the Presidential without filling out financial aid forms, so I'm probably wrong.

[Lakemom]

I agree with you both. If a school thinks a student might qualify for need based merit money it is coming out of a different pot that straight merit. Why wouldn't they want to know if they could preserve the straight merit money for those who do not qualify for need.

And, yes, they certainly would want to know if they could get away with not giving merit money to a family that financially could afford to pay full price.

Which makes me wonder if international students get merit aid? Schools are accepting more international students because they are full pay but do schools still think they need to entice them just a bit with merit money.

[CheckersMidwest]

Mizzou requires fafsa each year. We don't qualify for need bqsed aid and merit scholarships there are only available to tippy top students. Everyone else falss somewhere in between.

If you plan for any student loans, the fafsa is required to.

[lookingforward]

Fwiw, a quote from Kantrowitz, the guy behind finaid.org, who has a NYT blog:
Colleges generally do not award a student less merit aid because the student’s parents are wealthy. In fact, many colleges award merit aid specifically to attract wealthy students, since a full-pay student yields more revenue to the college even after subtracting the merit aid than several low-income students.

[GolfFather]

Ya know what all these posts tell me?

(And, as someone who is going to face these issues head-on in a few months, I truly truly appreciate the info!)

But the many threads, theories and thoughts on this subject tell me that the system is messed up and broken and that higher education needs to stop the whole financial infrastructure and start over.

[cptofthehouse]

It is confusing. What it comes down to, is that each school can give out its own money any ol' way it feels like it. Even schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need almost all define that need themselves. What's important is to find out the specifics that are important to your family at every school that is on the list for applying. You might even cut some schools when you find the answers. Some schools are just really so messed up in the way they want to do things with no transparency, and if it doesn't look that good to you, unless there is truly an outstanding reason to put up with that manner of operation, take it off your list and let them know why.

Most schools are transparent about most of their merit awards. If they do not require financial aid forms to be considered and outright say that all students will be considered for them upon application, that has been the case, from what I can see. For those awards that do require FAFSA and/or PROFILE for consideration, there is the possibility that need plays a role in getting any money and if you know you don't qualify for financial aid by a good margin, then you pretty much know that your kid isn't going to get any of that money. For schools and programs that requiare FAFSA to give an award but state that need is not a factor, they may be using that form as a clearing house to make sure the student is a citizen and that certain things are in good stead with them and the family. There are state awards that do this, such as HOPE, PROMISE, BRIGHT FUTUREs. FInances have nothing to do with the awards but they still want the FAFSA. FAFSA does verify things that may matter to schools,states, programs such as selective service enrollment, verification of SSN, citizenship, etc.

Where it gets dicey is that there are some financial aid awards that are also merit awards. Students can get them if they qualify for any aid in amount exceeding the need. There are also merit awards where need is only one component in many that are considered. There was a school I knew about personaly, not a college but a k-12 school that did award scholarships and, yes, you did have to verify your financials and they did count in the equaiton, but I know well to do families that did get some amounts. The school wanted the financials to be part of the considration but also have the flexibility to award the students they most wanted. So they would give need some points but it was possible to get money even if you had a big fat zero in that category. In order to get that award without need, you had to be that much more stellar than somoen who got points in that area.

The school that bother me the most are the ones that say you can't get aid in future years if you don't apply freshman year. Many of these schools are what I call the "wanna be" school s. They don't have the money to be need blind in admissions AND give 100% in need. So if your kid has need, it can count against them. A lot of them swear that it only comes into the picture for borderline cases or that it only counts X% of the time, but really it comes down to being a litle bit pregnant, in my opinion. They are so adament about this that they don't want anyone "sneaking past them" by applying asking for no aid and then hitting them up in future years with need once they are at the school. Apparently families will borrow the money the first year to give the kid a better chance to be admiited and then apply for need the next year, taking them up on the 100% need that the school brags about. So they penalize those who play that game by saying if you don't apply in year one, you don't get any later or you have to show that you didn't need it that first year but had a change in circumstances. Some of them want to see if there is a sibling coming down the pike and the student might then qualify for need at that time, and who knows if they hold that against an applicant?

I would say just cross those asinine schools off the list, except some of them will come up with some nice merit and need packages if they want your kids badly enough and the only way you'll know that is if you apply. But be aware that these schools are pinched in money and are often unpleasant to deal with if needs come up later. There are schools that are generous in aid and those that are not, and these schools are over all not generous.They just are when they have to be to benefit themselves.

You can also play the odds by applying for aid at some of such schools and not at others and see how it plays out. I've known folks who have done that. Not enough to come up with any conclusions.

As for wanting loans, you can say "no" to the application question about applying for aid and then file a FAFSA for federal money as it doesn't come from the school. PLUS and Staffords are what I have in mind here. And you can do that after acceptance so the school does't have that info at all during decision time.

[lookingforward]

-too much speculation.
How it works at one school is only how it works there. Haven't seen OP back on this thread, but the choice is the family's. Apply or don't. IF the school requires Fafsa and/or CSS for merit consideration and you don't want to provide it, then don't. Someone else will be considered for those funds.

This deals with situations no one knows the exact formulas for- does need matter, does it not, are there some need monies that are awarded based on merit, is there true merit regardless of need, how is need determined- and all that. You only find out how it works for you by carefully reading what info there is, provided by the school- then, when the offer comes. If anyone can't stand revealing fin details, cut that college. But, be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater, because someone else thinks....

[Jane345]

At my daughter's small college the best jobs on campus (meaning those that easily fit into a student's busy schedule) are set aside for work-study students. She was told during sophomore year that she needed to have a FAFSA form onfile for her to apply for one of those jobs, even she would not technically qualify for any need-based aid.

[colorado_mom]

Things vary from college to college. At some schools, ALL students applying for FA or merit aid must fill out form (FAFSA and/or CSS) because that's how they centralize their paperwork.

[cptofthehouse]

I thought work study jobs all required a FAFSA and demonstrated need since they are federally subsidized.

[OperaDad]

May need to have filed FASFA to get a work-study job

Work Study is one of the types of Federal Financial Aid, so the student must file a FASFA to qualify for it and get it.

One reason a school would require FASFA is:

Assume COA is $30,000, and EFC is $5,000, then the school can award up to $25,000 of need based financial aid. Let's assume that $5,000 is Federal grants, and the rest ($20,000) is from the school's need based endowment, and none of it is loans.

If the School awards $10,000 of merit aid, then it in only switches the pot from where the money comes from ($10,000 merit, $5,000 from Feds, and $10,000 from endowment). The Student would need to receive more than $25,000 of merit aid in order to benefit. So, the school may want to save the merit aid for another student. The only way the school will know if the student benefits from merit aid is if the FASFA is filed.

[exstudent]

Despite all the "filll them out anyway" comments here, I would respectfully disagree. I would say don't bother filling out those forms if your income/assets are such that you don't qualify for need-based aid. There's no point hoping that somehow they'll find a few bucks to slip under the door. (Obvious exception: school specifically says they want the forms for merit aid; I remember seeing one of those.)

There are actually quite a few merit-based schols out there, although some (not all) of elite schools specifically say they don't have such awards. Some can actually be hard to find -- in one case a school informed my son that he should apply for one that we'd missed (and it's a four year t&f, so worth a lot!). But of course they're all very competitive ...