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Scholarship Pitfalls to Avoid

Understanding financial aid
Don't apply for every scholarship
Statistics - Don't be fooled
Apply as early as possible
New college student - ALWAYS apply for financial aid
Parents - Maximize student scholarships
Renewable scholarships
Caution! More could mean less
Negotiation of financial aid awards
The single largest financial aid mistake
Scholarship and Grant Summary Chart
Loan Summary Chart

Renewable Scholarships

 

In March-April, senior year students will receive financial aid award letters from each college they are accepted to.  Scrutinize and compare scholarships, grants and loans listed on each award letter and:

 

Verify that each scholarship or grant is “renewable.”  Renewable scholarships and grants are awarded each year, freshman through senior years.  Non-renewable means the money is given only for the freshman year. 

 

Ask if the renewable scholarships and grants are adjusted for inflation.  As college costs increase each year, do your scholarships and grants also increase?

 

If a scholarship is renewable, check on the requirements to renew the scholarship.  Do you need to maintain a 3.5 Grade Point Average (GPA)?  Maintaining a 3.5 GPA may be very difficult and if you don’t earn this high GPA, you will lose the scholarship.  Be aware of what is required to keep your scholarships and grants.

 

Most colleges give the incoming freshman class scholarships and grants knowing a large percentage of the financial aid will be discontinued because many students fail to maintain the minimum GPA (and end up losing their financial aid). The best financial aid awards require students to achieve “satisfactory academic progress,” which means scholarship recipients must maintain a minimum GPA of only 2.0 while taking at least 12 course units.


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