Scholarships/graduation date/Masters strategy

mmom99
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 19:41:45 +0000

Hi all, I was hoping some of the more experienced parents could help me think though this strategy.

My daughter (2nd year at UA, Junior standing due to APs/CLEP/etc) is planning on doing her BS & MS here at U. of Alabama. So far, so great!! Roll tide!!

She’s on a National Merit scholarship, which means 5 years of free tuition + some extra cash each year (3500) for FOUR years plus the ENGR college cash (2500/yr) which is, presumably, likewise limited to (four?) undergrad years. (Plus a few other perks that aren’t relevant at this time.)

So, anyway, helping her strategize her schedule for her upcoming 4th semester and beyond, it looks like she’d pretty easily be able to complete the BS in 3 years (6 semesters) and would also be able to get probably 2 courses done during that time that could double-count towards her MS as well (using 500 level courses in place of 400 for some upper division major electives).

The MS program is a one-year thing – 30 credit hours (whether she chooses thesis or non-thesis, still just 30 hours).

So, she may well end up not using the Year 5 tuition money (unless I can convince her to take a year or at least a semester off in the middle and sail around the world or something fun like that on a study abroad thing, but so far, she’s not motivated to travel to that extent). That’s just fine with me; her call on that, of course.

What I’m wondering about is that 3500/yr NM money and 2500/yr ENGR money. It’d sure be nice to keep that money during Year 4 even if she’s doing grad work that year.

So, question is . . . Could she just wait to get the BS & MS at the same graduation – presumably the end of Year 4? Can she do that even if she has technically completed all the BS requirements? I think this would be nice for her because it’d mean she’d graduate with more of her friends who entered the same date she did . . .

(And, yes, I am encouraging her to explore co-op . . . and that wouldn’t change the financials on this question, it’d just nudge it back a year.)

Any insights into this strategy? Any BTDT advice? If she graduated with the BS after 3 years, am I right that she’s forfeit the 3500 NM money and the 2500 ENGR money during that 4th year?

Thanks in advance for your insights!