Does Merit Money Build On Need-Based Grants?

AllisonMP
Fri, 02 Dec 2016 17:21:08 +0000

Typically, and at Macalester, merit scholarships don’t affect a family’s expected contribution for those who have financial need. Instead, Mac uses a combination of merit and need-based aid to meet a student’s financial need as they determine it.For a particular student with financial need, you could indeed say that it’s a bit of a financial wash-- that the net is the same, just from different pots of money.

Merit scholarships only change the bottom line for families who aren’t eligible for institutional need-based aid, and they are then an incentive for those students to enroll. For those of us with financial need, the fact that Mac does pledge to meet need is pretty huge. Many institutions do not.

Just as a data point, my daughter receives both a merit scholarship and need-based aid at Macalester, and our net cost is very close to what the net price calculator predicted.