Institutional Financial Aid
Institutional financial aid is any aid that comes from the college or university that the student has applied to. At private colleges, institutional financial aid is often a large part of a student’s financial aid package. The amount of Institutional aid that a college or university offers a student is often a very important part of the decision making process because for the most part, federal and state aid stays the same from one college to the next. Institutional financial aid varies greatly depending on many different factors.
The amount of institutional financial aid a college or university offers a student may depend on the following factors:
- Selectivity of the institution
- One school may offer a student a full tution merit scholarship and another may not offer the student a scholarship at all, what gives? U.S. News and World Report's ranking of colleges is largely based on selectivity. The most competitive institutions in the country are also considered the most pristigeous. These schools do not have to offer large merit scholarships to attract students to their campuses. Many students across the country are so happy to have been admitted that they are willing to pay the large sticker price to attend. Some, less selective institutions utlize merit scholarships as a way to "level the playing field." Because these less selective institutions need to attract students away from their more selective counterparts, many of these colleges and universities offer more substantial merit scholarship awards.
- Size of the endowment of the institution
- Some schools have very large endowments (Harvard's is valued at over 25 Billion Dollars) and thus can afford to help students that demonstrate financial need. Other schools struggle to maintain a healthy endowment (most colleges are well below 1 Billion Dollars) and thus can not afford to provide as much financial assistance as their more wealthy counterparts.
- Targeted population of the institution
Two main types of Institutional Financial:
- Academic Merit Scholarships
- Need Based Grants
Academic Merit Scholarships:
Merit scholarships at most institutions are automatic, meaning that the student does not have to submit a separate application to be considered for an academic merit scholarship.
Most academic scholarships are based primarily on three factors:
Colleges and universities are well aware that not all high schools rank their students. They are also aware that not all GPAs are equal. Both of those factors are taken into consideration.When a student applies to a college the high school sends a "high school profile." This profile gives the college insight into ...