I have been to Going Merry and other sites looking for scholarships, but wanted to get some input from people that have experience. My son is in his junior yr and he is Autistic and a straight A student. What have been the best scholarships you have experienced? Thank you.
Are you eligible for TAP or the Excelsior awards? Either one would pay tuition at a SUNY college, I believe.
The single most important thing you need to do is look at your son’s transition plan if he has an IEP. See what that says about post high school plans. If he will need accommodations in college to succeed, you need to make sure whatever college he attends can provide these.
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I think that if he is a straight A student and can do decently on the SAT or ACT he would have an excellent chance at a good automatic scholarship from University of Alabama (for us it ended up a few thousand cheaper than our cheapest in state option).
One thing I wanted to point out is that Alabama has a college transition and support program especially for kids with ASD. It’s run by the Psychology program and the PhD students also use it for research to find the most effective means of support for that population.
It may not be your thing, but I just wanted let you know it exists, and that there may be similar programs elsewhere.
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Yeah I don’t have a child with autism and typically budget is most important. But whatever school you choose I’d make sure the student has the support needed - whatever that looks like for them.
I think at some schools it may be an extra fee vs a scholarship but yes depending on academics, there are great scholarships all over.
But whether the support will be great you’ll (have to) hopefully visit and evaluate.
Would you please clarify what may be an extra fee? Thanks.
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Sure - here’s an example. I didn’t know but another poster mentioned some have fees including this one. Just something to check into but of course we don’t know (and I wouldn’t have knowledge of) the type of services needed for the student.
https://salt.arizona.edu/future-students/fees-scholarships
https://www.emich.edu/college-supports-program/program-overview/index.php
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Hello everybody, I am sorry, I should have been clearer in my question. Our son is currently in college and we did have the Excelsior scholarship, but lost it and now we are looking for ways to pay for college. Our son is a Junior in college.
I updated the thread title to reflect the new information. Let me know if it’s not okay.
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Has he talked to his academic department ?
Some have departmental monies. He might talk to a professor who knows him well or the Dean.
Is he able to self advocate ?
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Have you talked to the college financial aid office?
As a junior, he can take the $7500 Direct Loan. Has he done this?
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Was the scholarship lost due to disability?
“ Students with qualified disabilities who attend less than full-time must register with their college office for students with disabilities.
Please note that neither students with disabilities nor students without disabilities can receive or retain an Excelsior Scholarship if they take longer to complete due to a change of majors or transfer to another college unless such change is a direct result of functional limitations resulting from the impairment that impacts the student’s ability to continue at the college or in the major. Specifically:
For individuals who have lost college credits due to a change in major or transfer of college, consideration for an award will only be given to students who provide medical documentation that clearly specifies that they (1) both (i) transferred to another college due to their disability or medical condition (e.g., the student must be cared for at home and, therefore, transferred to a college near their home) and (ii) changed majors, if applicable, because their previous major was not offered at their transfer college; or (2) were first diagnosed with their disability or medical condition after entering college/selecting their major, and their capacity to continue at that college or in pursuit of that major is or was limited by their disability or medical condition, resulting in the loss of credits.”
We are trying not to take a loan if possible. He lost the scholarship for such a dumb reason. He transferred schools and the new school didn’t accept 9 credits and he had no time to make them up and since the scholarship sees he is no longer on track to graduate, he loses the scholarship. It looks like no acceptations will be made. He get’s straight A’s and was almost the Valedictorian of his graduating class for his associate degree. It just stinks.
Oh, he’s transferring.
Yeah, transfer scholarships are not good. If your income doesn’t qualify for excelsior, then it’s an issue - short of finding a school with a strong transfer scholarship.
Loans aren’t good - but if you can keep them minimal, he can hopefully work his way out of them.
Again, if he has a major at the new school, find out what kind of departmental scholarships are available.
So Excelsior wasn’t lost because of increased income?
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We actually did go over the income, but that issue would not have kicked in until later. He lost it because if they see that your child is not on track to graduate when they are expected, they can lose it. I plan on starting some side hustles to pay for things.
Is he eligible for TAP?
Excelsior has a higher income threshold. If family is not eligible for Excelsior they are not eligible for TAP($80,000 income)
Did your son apply for ACCES-VR services which has college funding ( up to the cost of SUNY tuition)
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