<p>So often we read that some schools require parents to complete the FAFSA in order to award merit scholarships, but I’ve been unable to find a list. I was thinking we could just list them here. Apologies if this has already been done somewhere else. Thanks! </p>
<p>YOUR best bet would be to check with the individual schools that you/your child is considering. </p>
<p>Rutgers:</p>
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<p>You would need to contact the schools you have applied to and find out if they require the FASFA in order to receive merit aid. If you are currently a senior in high school (or parent of one), you would need to do so asap. I cannot imagine that there would be a list, though I do believe that most state schools require the FASFA to receive any merit aid. A more experienced parent may be able to help you with this. My knowledge is minimal but my husband did the FASFA as one private school where our daughter applied required the FASFA to get merit aid and then we must file each year after that for her to keep the merit aid, even if we are not getting any type of financial aid at all.</p>
<p>Also, sister’s family will receive no financial aid. However, they are filing the FASFA because they want their son to be eligible for the federal loan (5k per year I believe). For reasons of maturity, responsibility and accountability they will give him take out the loan to cover spending money and travel cost during the year (unless he works and save money toward all of this over the summer). They intend to pay it off for him, but are not promising him this. They are very comfortable financially but want him to have some investment in paying and working for his education as he put little effort into school private high school education. If he does the same in college, then by filing the FASFA and having him take out the loan, he can pay back some or all of it himself. Therefore, if for whatever reason you might need the loan, my understanding is that you must have filed the FASFA that year. </p>
<p>There are over 4000 colleges, universities, CCs in the US. At best a list like this would be good for one year. Even then I wouldn’t trust a list on an internet message board and neither should anyone else. The best advice is always to check with the schools someone is interested in. I’m not sure why a vocal few are disputing this advice.</p>
<p>By the time you go through the effort to contact a variety of schools, you could have completed the FAFSA 3 times over. </p>
<p>My question is what is it that you are really trying to accomplish? </p>
<p>Whether or not you file the FAFSA for merit consideration is a nit in the big scheme of things if you are looking for merit money. This should not be the hill that you are willing to die on. </p>
<p>If you really want to know how your kid gets merit aid; do the research. </p>
<p>Many schools will tell you what you need in order to be eligible for a merit aid. Being eligible for merit aid, does not necessarily mean that you are going to receive merit aid. Some schools will tell you approximately how many scholarships they offer to the incoming freshman class. Take this information along with the info from the common data set (which will tell you how many students were offered admission and the gap/sat ranges of the admitted class), may give you a better range of where your kid stands in the merit park.</p>
<p>Unless you are applying for guaranteed merit (which in my opinion is you have X GPA and Y SAT/ACT score, you submit the application, your essays or recs don’t have anything glaring as to why you should not be admitted and boom, you are guaranteed admission along with the money), you have bigger fish to fry.</p>
<p>Unless you plan on applying to 4000 schools (when you add up all of the application fees , profile fees, sending scores, you could pay the tuition), there is no need to compile a list, which as annoying dad said is only going to be good for one year.</p>
<p>Case in point, when my kid applied to college, a number of schools that she applied to had no loan policies. Over the course while she was in school, those policies went away. I remember when Columbia stated that the only way they would let you out of ED, is if you were going to your local public university. I remember when if you did not apply for aid at Vassar as a freshmen, you would go to the back of the line the next year and it wasn’t guaranteed that you would receive aid. Schools that gave guaranteed scholarships, no longer do so. Guess what? Policies change. Policies in place today, will not be in place next year, 2 years or 5 years from now. Most people are sharing their experience. The best thing that you can do for you and yours; listen, don’t take anything as gospel and verify for yourself. </p>
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<p>annoyingdad, I’m guessing that you have me in mind with your last sentence. If not, then my apologies in advance for making an incorrect assumption.</p>
<p>I never have advocated that a list be compiled here on CC of colleges that either require that FAFSA be filed to receive merit aid or that require FA application documents during the admission process in order to be eligible for institutional FA at a later time. And I agree that the best sources of information on FA policies and procedures are the FA offices of the schools that an applicant is interested in.</p>
<p>My “vocalness” has to do with the repeated assertion here on CC that “some” colleges have a policy of not considering a student for institutional FA at any time unless a FA application is submitted during the admissions process, while no school that currently has this policy has ever been named (as far as I can tell, and I’m perfectly happy to be proven wrong). Until it can be shown that at least one school actually has this policy, I’ll remain skeptical that the assertion is true, and I think that repeating the assertion without that showing does a disservice to those who come to CC looking for good information.</p>
<p>The only schools that I have found that seem to ask for FAFSA for merit are some Jesuit schools. Not saying that all Jesuits schools do this…and not saying that only Jesuit schools do this.</p>
<p>edited…I’m not sure which Jesuits I remember asking for FAFSA. lol</p>
<p>SCU seems to have changed its site again. I think I do remember that at one time it asked for FAFSA…now their offers say this:</p>
<p>SCU Awards
Scholarships and grants are a form of gift aid that does not require repayment. Scholarships and grants are generally awarded on a variety of factors including academic achievement, talent, athletic ability, leadership and/or ** financial need **</p>
<p>Johnson Scholars Award
The Johnson Scholars comprehensive merit award is provided to freshmen who demonstrate the highest levels of academic ability, motivation and leadership potential.
Merit-based
Awards: Full tuition, room & board; summer stipend upon application in sophomore/junior year
Renewable for 12 consecutive academic quarters
Must meet satisfactory academic progress
Indexed to tuition increases
**Coordinated with federal, state and other University aid <a href=“not%20sure%20if%20FAFSA%20is%20req’d”>/b</a>
Recipients selected at time of admission
For more information regarding this award, visit the Johnson Scholars Program website.</p>
<p>Presidential at Entry Scholarship
The Presidential at Entry Scholarship is awarded to freshman who demonstrate other qualities identified and emphasized by the president as critical to the University’s mission.
Merit-based
Awards: Full tuition
Renewable for 12 consecutive academic quarters
Must meet satisfactory academic progress
Indexed to tuition increases
Coordinated with federal, state and other University aid
Recipients selected at time of admission</p>
<p>Provost Scholarship
The Provost Scholarship is awarded to freshman who have assumed leadership roles in their schools and their communities.
Merit-based
Awards: Half tuition
Renewable for 12 consecutive academic quarters
Must meet satisfactory academic progress
Indexed to tuition increases
Coordinated with federal, state and other University aid
Recipients selected at time of admission</p>
<p>SCU Dean’s Scholarship
The Dean’s Scholarship is awarded to freshman who are admitted to either the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Business or School of Engineering.
Merit-based
Awards: Vary
Renewable for 12 consecutive academic quarters
Must meet satisfactory academic progress
Not indexed to tuition increases
Coordinated with federal, state and other University aid
Recipients selected at time of admission</p>
<p>Jesuit Ignatian Award
The Jesuit Ignatian Award is awarded to freshman who have graduated from a Jesuit high school.
Need-based
Awards: Vary
Renewable for 12 consecutive academic quarters
Must meet satisfactory academic progress
FAFSA required annually
Not indexed to tuition increases
Coordinated with federal, state and other University aid
Recipients selected by the Financial Aid Office</p>
<p>Boston University required the completion of their financial aid forms for the awarding of merit aid when my kid matriculated there in 2003. This was required for freshman and sophomore year for him…then thy discontinued the requirement for continuing students. We were required to complete FAFSA and Profile. Our FAFSA FCC exceeded the cost of attendance. His was a music performance award that had NO need component.</p>
<p>I do not know if this is still required there or not.</p>
<p>ETA…BU is NOT a Jesuit school.</p>
<p>DD attended a Jesuit school that does NOT require forms for merit only awards.</p>
<p>‘My “vocalness” has to do with the repeated assertion here on CC that “some” colleges have a policy of not considering a student for institutional FA at any time unless a FA application is submitted during the admissions process,’</p>
<p>this part is a mystery. I have never seen a school say that a DOMESTIC student who doesn’t have a financial crisis can’t file for FA later. (death of parent, job loss, major health expenses, etc)</p>
<p>Denison U (private, not religiously affiliated) requires freshmen to apply through FAFSA for their merit awards. We didn’t have to do so after that year.</p>
<p>“this part is a mystery. I have never seen a school say that a DOMESTIC student who doesn’t have a financial crisis can’t file for FA later. (death of parent, job loss, major health expenses, etc)”</p>
<p>Skidmore College, which my son attends, will not offer grant based financial aid (they have very little merit aid but significant grant aid) to returning students for their sophomore year unless they were eligible for grant aid as an incoming freshman. </p>
<p>From their financial aid website:</p>
<p>Welcome Returning Students</p>
<p>Welcome back to Skidmore College. As you prepare for another year in college, you are reminded that applying for financial assistance is a yearly process. Each spring the aid application materials must be completed and submitted by the College’s processing deadlines in order for your aid eligibility to be determined for the next academic year.</p>
<p>We are excited about having you back at Skidmore College and look forward to assisting you with the financial aid process. Please select the appropriate category below to learn about the documents you need to complete, along with their deadlines.</p>
<p>Returning Students ~ Students who enrolled at Skidmore College with Skidmore College grant aid and do not fall in one of the categories below.</p>
<p>HEOP/AOP Students ~ Students admitted to Skidmore College through Skidmore College’s Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) or the Academic Opportunity Program (AOP). International AOP students should review information for International Students.</p>
<p>First Time Applicants ~ Students who enrolled at Skidmore College without Skidmore College grant aid normally are first eligible to receive such aid, if need is demonstrated, in their junior year.</p>
<p>Loan Applicants Only for 2012/2013 ~ Skidmore College participates in the Federal Direct Loan program. If you borrow a Federal Direct Student Loan or a Federal Direct PLUS loan your funding will come directly from the Federal government.</p>
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<p>@MiddKidd86, how do you think others should respond when someone asks if there’s a reason to file fafsa if they know they won’t get aid the first year? Just ignore the thread and not respond at all? Tell them, no, unconditionally there’s no need to file fafsa? Or tell them to check with the schools without giving a reason? Are any of those options better information? In checking with the schools the poster needs to know what they may be checking for, i.e. fafsa may be needed for merit or may be needed for aid consideration in subsequent years if the family’s financial situation changes.</p>
<p>People can post here that Ivies and Duke, Vanderbilt, Rice and the like don’t have those requirements but that’s not applicable to the vast majority of students who are more likely looking at less selective schools with smaller endowments and not able to be as generous with aid. They think they can handle 4 years at full pay and then a parent loses their job and they need aid in subsequent years.</p>
<p>What would be ‘good information’ for these posters to receive?</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, my D applied to Denison in January. It would be news to me if we were required to file FAFSA to qualify for merit aid. That was never communicated to me (I asked), and I don’t see it on their website. We did file FAFSA, though, in order to qualify for loans. Are you speaking about their policy in prior years, or this year?</p>
<p>If you win a Regents Scholarship (a merit award) at a UC, the dollar quantity of the award varies according to need. If you don’t file a FAFSA, it is assumed that you have no need and you get only a monetary token award. </p>
<p>To the OP, despite some of the criticism here, I appreciate this post. I have been wondering about this too, so thanks for starting this thread.</p>
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<p>I’m sure that there are all sorts of appropriate ways to respond. Obviously, one way that I think others should not respond is with a statement that doesn’t appear to be supported by any facts.</p>
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<p>First and foremost, they shouldn’t be told that “some” schools will not consider need-based institutional aid in later years if a FA application is not submitted as part of the admissions process, unless that is in fact the case. It’s as simple as that. (As m2ck has pointed out, international applicants are a different animal.)</p>
<p>I also wanted to thank OP for asking this question.</p>
<p>Middkidd. The best thing any poster here can do is check THEIR college websites. There are several thousand colleges and the policies vary. </p>
<p>Clearly, you know more about this than I do. Thank you for the correction.</p>
<p>“Skidmore College, which my son attends, will not offer grant based financial aid (they have very little merit aid but significant grant aid) to returning students for their sophomore year unless they were eligible for grant aid as an incoming freshman.”</p>
<p>So, if you apply for aid as an incoming frosh (fill out forms) and Skidmore determines that you don’t qualify for aid for frosh year…but then you have a later setback and DO qualify, you wont’ get aid? </p>