A scholarship may sound like the answer to all your college-financing problems, and depending on its size, it may be
After all, it is free money (that you worked incredibly hard for) that doesn’t have to be paid, but it may come with a few strings attached.
These strings can be as loose as “You must be enrolled in an accredited school” or as tight as “You may not study outside of the United States.” The scholarships with the most requirements tend to come from organizations other than a college and have high monetary value. So if you’re offered a full ride, you’ll want to comb through the scholarship’s terms and conditions extra carefully. Though, to avoid any surprises, it’s smart to do that with any scholarship.
Whether you’re evaluating scholarships now or hoping to land one in the future, consider these four factors before signing on the dotted line.
1. The Length of the Scholarship
There are two types of scholarships: one-time and recurring. Most but not all one-time scholarships are private, meaning they come from non-college organizations. If you receive one for your freshman year, don’t automatically count on it for subsequent years. While the terms and conditions will vary on recurring scholarships, they can be renewed each year—though many cap at four years—provided you continue to meet all qualifications.
2. The GPA You Need to Keep It
To hold onto a recurring scholarship, you’ll often need to maintain a minimum GPA. Be sure to check when your GPA will be assessed too; it generally happens either at the end of your first semester or at the end of your freshman year. Most likely it will be the latter, but it’s best to be certain.
3. How It Will Affect Your Financial Aid Package
An outside scholarship can impact your need-based financial aid package. Colleges consider scholarship money a new “resource,” so if your Student Aid Index (SAI) is $20,000 and you then get a $3,000 private scholarship, your SAI increases to $23,000. In that case, the college will likely reduce your entire financial aid package by $3,000. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—you still get the same amount of money—but it’s probably not realistic to assume you can add the scholarship to your existing financial aid package.
4. If You Can Study Abroad
Do you dream of spending a semester in another country? Some scholarships won’t fund semesters when students are studying abroad. While students may continue to receive federal aid if they are enrolled in an approved study abroad program, other aid, such as private scholarships, are not held to the same rules. If you don’t see anything about studying abroad in a scholarship’s terms and conditions, check with both the organization granting it and your school’s financial aid office.
Ultimately, there could be just about anything in the terms and conditions of your scholarship, so you’ll want to read them carefully. The scholarship administrator should verbally walk you through the award’s requirements, but they don’t always offer, so don’t be shy about asking. Once you have the terms and conditions explained to you, read them over yourself and enlist outside help—your college financial aid office is a good place to start—if anything is unclear. Then you can make a decision on which scholarships make the most sense to accept
