Some schools have merit awards that cover tuition. Other schools have a need based FA award that covers $xx toward the total bill, and that might pay some r&b or might not. Some schools with full rides (for example, for NMF) cover everything, including R&B. My daughter had some awards that could only be used for tuition, so her school applied those first and that left some of her merit award that could be used for r&b.
In NY, the excelsior only pays tuition.