Merit and honors college decisions are separate. A student may receive a March 1ish honors college admission and no merit at all, while another student who is not in the honors college does receive merit.
As @NiceUnparticularMan mentioned, Pitt says that the merit committee reconsiders applications each week, but as time goes on the chances of receiving merit likely decrease but are not zero.
It would be great to figure out the average time between acceptance and a merit award, if one is received. That would help set expectations.
Daughter applied Nov 27, she was accepted on January 7, and received merit in her portal today for 5k per year. (Maybe not exact dates, she only checks portals once a week) It seemed like some people felt merit was getting more unlikely at this point, so I didnât get my hopes up. We are oos.
Hang in there friends!
Like everything else at Pitt, itâs rolling. They meet weekly and merit can continue to come out for a while. Given the disparity in grades and scores between my second, S18, who graduated from Pitt (99 GPA, 35ACT, $15k merit) and my third, I donât think we will see more than a few grand for my S24 if any. But itâs good to see there is still hope.
It appears for state-related universities like Pitt, the big change would be moving to a performance-based funding formula that would allow for contingent funding increases without 2/3rds legislative votes.
Thereâs not much he can do about the ridiculous prices of the state-related unis in PA. From my quick read of the summary, the plan calls for an extra $1k PHEAA grant. And not much more.
In terms of the PASSHE schools and CCs, $1k tuition p/semester is a good start.
But PA remains a really problematic state, geographically, where so many kids are not within easy commuting distance of any college, and this plan doesnât help with R&B.
The $1000 tuition only applies to families making $70k or less. No word on what that means for others. If you make $140k is it $2000? Or are those rates higher than they are now in order to offset the reduction for the poorer families?
The school has to keep the lights on, so the money has to come from somewhere.
Pitt, Penn State and Pennsylvania in general are near the top in costs nationally for in state tuition. In state at Purdue for example is $20k room and board and the state prioritizes merit scholarships for in state not out of state. Purdues out of state tuition is actually similar to PAs in state amount. PA in general is terrible for in state tuition support compared to every other state. $38k for in state tuition is insane. How does every other state manage to do it somehow. That $1k proposal would be made up by state funding, aka taxpayers for the difference, not out of Pittâs pocket.
The PA Lottery funds the eldery. In Georgia, for example, the lottery funds the Hope Scholarships for college students. Also, my S24 loves to tell me that going OOS to a Florida university is still cheaper than in-state PSU and Pitt. Heâs not going OOS but thanks for the reminder kid, lol $$$$$
We live in PA. My son just applied to University of North Dakota. Weâve never been there, but out of state tuition is like 15k. Total COA is 3k less than Pitt/PSU in state. And we hear they offer merit. Plus it looks like a really cool place.
I know Pitt/PSU are only state related, not full state schools. But at the end of the day, we simply canât afford to send someone there.
