Merit vs Need Based Aid

In honor of the FAFSA being open and because today I talked to a few students about scholarships and financial aid - one who was thankful to be done with the CSS profile and another who spends 1 hour per week applying to various scholarships - I decided that this week I will try to let topics related to paying for college be our over-arching theme.

Paying for college is expensive! There is no question that higher education costs add up quickly.  There are two broad categories that come into play when we are talking about financial aid – Merit Based aid and Need Based aid.

Merit Based aid is what you think of when you think “Scholarships.” These are usually awarded to students based on academic achievements, leadership, athletics, special talents such as art or music, volunteerism, or other personal qualities that set you apart. These scholarships do not consider financial need. A significant portion of all merit-based aid comes directly from the college/ university. Some schools may require additional scholarship applications, essays, interviews, and many colleges will have earlier deadlines to be considered for their scholarships. It can be helpful to know that a lot of times the smaller, private colleges will have more money available for scholarships in order to help make attending their school competitive with the lower sticker prices of the public colleges. It is helpful to keep an eye out for unique scholarships that might apply to your personal situation. Last year I had a student who was able to qualify for an Italian heritage scholarship. Perhaps one of your grandparents won a purple heart or maybe you have time to write an essay for one of the other scholarship competitions… no matter what the situation, if you find a scholarship that you meet the criteria for go ahead and apply – you might be pleasantly surprised at the result and if you don’t, the answer is definitely a “no.”

Need Based aid is what you will sometimes hear people refer to as “Financial Aid” even though both Merit Based and Need Based aid technically fall under that one category. There are a variety of different Need Based aid programs which will require you to fill out the FAFSA (and/or CSS profile) in order to be considered for them. Grants are considered gift assistance – they give you money and you do not have to pay it back. Loans which can come from a wide variety of sources – the federal government, the college, and private banks is money that you are required to pay back. Work Study programs are on campus job opportunities that the government helps find that allows you to earn money for college through working on campus. 

The big difference between Merit Based and Need Based aid is that with Need Based aid is that the type and amount of Need Based aid you will receive depends upon the level of financial need you have.  And, yes, just to add to the confusion – there are some scholarships that will consider financial need as a criterion. They are still awarding the scholarship based upon some specific aspect of who you are it is just allowing them to narrow down the potential applicant pool.

Try not to get frustrated as you walk through the whole financial aid process.  Just take it one step at a a time and remember that all of these applications ultimately will help you to make college more affordable.