<p>Thanks, all, for the input. Helpful!</p>
<p>Dodgersmom, you’re right about the lottery – very thankful for the acceptance and the aid. Wouldn’t mind letting the scholarship go to someone else if it can’t benefit S, but as far as I know the fund doesn’t redistribute unclaimed scholarships, since amount-per-recipient varies based on DFN. But more money would stay in the pool for others.</p>
<p>KatMt and Kitten23 – neither outside scholarship can be used for EFC per university policy; after work-study, outside dollars are used to offset the school’s grant aid, since it covers all-but-EFC with no loans. Very generous and a key factor for where S chose to apply. But there’s no scenario where EFC is paid by an outside source. </p>
<p>Picapole, thanks for the perspective on work-study. With a hyper-competitive undergrad environment and S having an eye on grad school, I was wondering if saving him time (declining the scholarship with the work requirement and using the other scholarship to eliminate work study) would deliver more value than the resume-building aspect of the scholarship that Dodgersmom mentioned. </p>
<p>A helpful link: <a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid; which talks about cases in which COA can sometimes be adjusted up or down to allow a student to receive greater benefits from outside sources. Excerpt: “Many financial aid administrators feel that it is important to choose the adjustment method that maximizes the benefit to the student.”</p>
<p>Seems counter-intuitive to ask the college to increase COA, but that may be the upside-down place we find ourselves. S will talk to the financial aid rep this week to see if that is possible and favorable. If financial need above EFC can be moved off of zero, and the fund is agreeable to covering the difference, perhaps some aid could go to S’s account without reducing university aid. Otherwise the work requirement might tip us away from the scholarship. </p>