Other National Merit Scholarship

BostonDadof2
Tue, 31 May 2016 00:10:24 +0000

Son was admitted EA and was given package that included mix of Dean’s scholarship and need grant. We knew that overall package would stay the same when NMF came through, but thought it would be the merit bumped up to $30K and the need portion reduced. We figured that was best for us as we have a son graduating from college next year and therefore anticipated need portion to at least be reduced significantly if not disappear with just one child in school. However, when we called it was explained that the NMF amount was not guaranteed to be $30K and the exact amount is generally based on merit factors such as test scores and grades. But, we also were told that our assumption about need aid being reduced with changed circumstances was wrong. There is what is referred to as the NEU financial aid promise or guarantee that need aid will not be reduced. The rep actually said that we could “hit the lottery” and the need aid would not be reduced in future years. Not complaining because it will benefit us, but that seems almost crazy from an need aid policy standpoint. Further, as Tom Sr. notes, the rep explained that need aid gets increased in proportion to tuition increases, while merit is fixed for the whole 8 semesters. So you are better off getting need aid than merit aid (unless the policy changes). In fact, it seems we might have been better off without the NMF modification to the award, which increased the merit portion (though not to $30K) and reduced the need portion. It may be that if there is no need component of the award, they will give the full $30K, but that is not what the financial aid rep made it sound like.