Joker Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 How does this usually work? I'm thinking forward to next year when ds and two of his friends attending the same college are talking about getting an apartment. Dd also plans to attend same school in two years and it would be helpful if she could also end up in an apartment since dh and I will probably have to move out of state at that point. Ds has three different merit scholarships (no financial aid from anywhere else) and I'm wondering if the amounts will change if he moves off campus. Would they probably still use those to pay tuition and books but just not give him what's leftover for room and board? I'll obviously talk to the school at some point but right now I'm just wondering what others have experienced with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 My kids' scholarships have not specified what they are for. The $$ goes into their accts and after their owed balance is fully paid, the school issues a check for the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 You need to talk to the college. At DD's college, the college financial aid gets reduced when a student moves off campus; since her cost was so much lower off campus, we came out ahead nonetheless. Her school, however, does not give any "merit" aid; the merit is getting in, the grant aid is all need based. At DS' college, merit scholarship is a fixed amount only dependent on GPA and not on housing arrangements. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Our experience is similar to Regentrude's - that this is a school dependent issue. Both my kids merit aid was unaffected by living arrangements, but my niece's was impacted enough that it was financially necessary to remain on campus all 4 years. Check with the school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 My ds's financial aid is affected by whether he lives on campus. We haven't yet looked into whether it would actually cost more to live off campus or not. He'd lose some money, but he might come out ahead. He's definitely living on campus next year (sophomore year). Junior year he may do study abroad one semester, so it will probably be easier to live on campus for the other semester rather than try to find an apartment for a few months. So really it's just senior year that he might live off campus. We'll run numbers at some point soon so he can plan ahead. The bottom line is that I agree - check with the school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabelen Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 My daughter's merit scholarship was a fixed annual amount dependent on gpa and full time status only. Her living arrangements were irrelevant. She got merit scholarships at other universities that required her living in the honors college dorm for two years. I am not sure how moving out would have affected her scholarship. You will definitely want to read your son's scholarship offer and or contact his college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted June 24, 2018 Share Posted June 24, 2018 Completely school and scholarship dependent, you need to check specifically. There are definitely merit scholarships that are specifically offered for on-campus housing. My oldest dd has one for tuition, one for on-campus housing (the web site wording used to read just housing, but now specifies on-campus housing)/ At a different school, my youngest was offered one that was a specific amount for any school expense, and one that was a specific amount for on-campus housing only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 My dd's merit scholarship would remain the same whether she lived on or off campus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Completely depends on the school. Son #1's school is 30% living on campus and 70% tuition, so leaving on-campus living makes him lose that %, but can actually still be cheaper, depending on the rent for an apartment. Thankfully it is NOT tied to food, so he can live in an on-campus apartment and get off the meal plan completely if he wants to and it won't affect his scholarship. Son #2 has a scholarship that is solely for tuition, so moving off-campus won't affect him at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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