How to Increase Your Chances of Maximizing Financial Aid for College

Padya Paramita

August 9, 2021

How to Increase Your Chances of Maximizing Financial Aid for College

College is undoubtedly expensive. As a result, you might be wondering how to go about the process in a way where you have increased chances of maximizing financial aid to ease the expenses. In this blog, we have outlined different routes and approaches you can take to make sure that you apply to schools—and scholarships—that can help you improve your aid and make the process as smooth as possible for your family.

Understand Need-Aware vs. Need-Blind Policies

Usually, when schools talk about being “need-blind” or “need-aware,” they are referring to their admissions office policy. Put simply, the question that these terms are an answer to is: Will my request for financial assistance harm my chances of admission in any way whatsoever?

If the school is “need-blind,” then the answer is, no, requesting financial assistance will have absolutely no impact on your admissions potential. It means that the school’s admissions office makes their decision on your merit as a candidate separately from the decision of whether to grant financial aid or not.

On the other hand, if the school is “need-aware,” then the answer is yes, requesting financial assistance may have an impact on your admissions potential.” It means that the school might choose to accept a candidate with the financial resources to pay full tuition over an equally compelling candidate without those financial resources. Often, schools will consider finances in their admissions decisions in order to give them the ability to meet the full need for all accepted applicants (by pre-selecting a certain amount who can afford to attend on their own).

So, if you hope to come up with a school list that helps in maximizing financial aid, applying to need-blind could benefit you as many of them aim to meet the students’ aid once they have been admitted.

Read Up On Merit-Based Scholarships

As you consider opportunities for maximizing financial aid, another approach you can take is by looking at merit-based scholarships. Merit-based college scholarships are financial aid awards for a student’s time in college that are granted on the basis of academic achievement. Students who’ve performed well in high school or on standardized tests can qualify for these scholarships if they meet certain criteria. Merit-based scholarships are different from need-based aid. A need-based award is one that is granted to a student by a school’s financial aid office based on an individual’s family finances and financial need. Some schools, for example, the Ivies, do not offer merit-based aid at all.

The vast majority of merit-based scholarships are referred to the office of scholarships and financial aid by the admissions office and do not require separate submission. Even for scholarships that require specialized interests or narrower academic talents, these are sorted and referred to the appropriate bodies by the admissions office.

In other words, by submitting your application for admission you are automatically considered for most of any college’s merit scholarships. Just keep in mind that on most online applications, you will need to select the appropriate box when asked whether you would like to be considered for merit-based college scholarships.

Fill Out the FAFSA—and Send it to All of Your Schools

No matter what, you won’t have any chances at maximizing financial aid if you don’t demonstrate your finances to schools. At many colleges, the boundary between merit-based scholarships and need-based aid isn’t very well-defined. Many merit-based scholarships have a need component, and different types of need-based aid are awarded with merit consideration. For example, you’d rather receive a grant, which you don’t have to pay back, than a loan, which you do.

And the threshold for qualifying for need-based aid might be higher than you think. You don’t have to have a certain level of income to receive need-based aid. If you intend to pursue merit scholarships, cover your bases. Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA! To fill out the FAFSA, you’ll need the following information:

Social Security Number
Tax Return
Alien Registration Number (if not a citizen)
Bank Statements and Records of Investments (if applicable)
Records of Untaxed Income (if applicable)

The 2021-2022 FAFSA is already open for submission, so fill it out as soon as possible and send the information to the colleges on your list.

Apply to Schools that Use the Coalition Application

One of the ways for maximizing financial aid would be to apply to schools that are known for being financially generous. The Coalition Application is an application portal that accepts member schools specifically based on their accessibility. The Coalition App was founded in 2015 to “make college a reality for all high school students through its set of free, online college planning tools that help them learn about, prepare for, and apply to college.” The Coalition’s ethical motivations shine through with relatively strict eligibility criteria for its member institutions. In particular, member institutions must demonstrate that they are committed to access (especially regarding “under-served and under-resourced populations”), affordability (especially regarding financial aid, meeting demonstrated financial need, and reducing debt loads), and success (especially regarding graduation rates for at-risk students). Of course, you can still use the Common Application as it has a far greater number of member schools, but it can definitely help to cross-check your list with whether they are a Coalition member in order to find out how accessible they are.

Consider Outside Scholarships

Finally, although this doesn’t fall under maximizing financial aid from specific colleges, if you require financial assistance, you can always look towards other organizations. Some top scholarships include:

You can also be eligible for particular scholarships if you’re a part of certain organizations such as Girl Scouts. Look around in your community and organizations you’re a part of and see how they can help you maximize your chances of achieving financial aid to fund the next steps in your education.

Hopefully, you have a better idea now of ways of maximizing financial aid for college. Aid packages from schools is definitely the most ideal outcome. However, in order to avoid any awkward and unfortunate situations, apply for outside scholarships as well to cover your bases. Good luck!