If your student is going to have competitive academic stats, I would encourage you to talk to the financial office at each school and find out what specific scholarship programs they have for which your student may be eligible. Most schools have some great scholarships for which you can apply, but often we as MTs don’t even start thinking about that until after we know whether or not we are accepted into the MT program. And Spring is typically too late to even be considered for most of these larger scholarships. Some have a separate application process that is usually due early on. So, if you have a strong student, do your research and make sure you know what to apply for and when to have the best chance at getting $$. For example at the University of Cincinnati (CCM) look at the Cincinnatus Scholarship: https://financialaid.uc.edu/sfao/cincinnatus.html Must apply by Dec. 1.
Some schools will use your application to the college as your application for all of their scholarships. But there may still be a deadline you must meet in order to be considered for scholarships that is generally earlier than the actual admissions deadline. Check with each school. And for many reasons, get those applications in as soon as possible.
Additionally, at some schools there may be some scholarships for which you may think you are not eligible for which you are. We had several schools encourage D to apply for some scholarships that she did not necessarily think she qualified for because of her FAFSA, or her ethnicity, or her grades, etc… But it may depend on the pool of students in any given year and the way in which the scholarships’ guidelines are interpreted. We were recommended to apply for some we never would have thought to apply to on our own. So again, a conversation with the school is the only way you could find out if you might be considered for some of these other possible scholarships.
Additionally, D was able to receive some local, regional and national one time outside scholarships for things she accomplished in high school. They took a lot of research and a lot of work to submit them all – but that money definitely helped. Some awarded the money directly to her which was helpful for things like books, computer, travel, etc… Others send the money directly to the school at which you matriculate. Be aware if you get outside scholarships that it could effect what the school is willing to award you. It just depends on the school.
Also, be very aware if the awards you are getting are renewable or not. There were schools we found that made the first year very affordable, but our costs would have gone up significantly in subsequent years. So be careful of that.
There are some schools that guarantee your tuition for 4 years. Check on whether your school has any sort of policies about tuition increases, and look at their history to see what sort of increase you might expect each year. If they are experiencing double digit increases frequently, it could really effect your ability to afford the school all four years.