Reconsidering school scholarships based on merit

Although the needs of financial aid has remained stable in most schools, some schools are looking for scholarship programs of excellence that the next place to reduce, if budgets continue to decline. Merit-based scholarships, which often see the need, based on GPA and standardized test scores as measures of student achievement and potential for excellence at the university level.

One criticism was that the scholarships are awarded disproportionately to students from wealthy families who may have the means to better prepare for testing and support outside the classroom. However, cuts in merit scholarship programs can also affect the middle class, a group of students who can not receive any funding, but because of all the income of your parents receive more loans Bursaries ', grants, compared to low-income applicants. That may be how it should work, but middle-class families with stable incomes, do not always have surplus resources to contribute significantly to savings accounts for college than 529 plans, especially in a tough economy.

In case of merit-based scholarships while also considering a degree of necessity before the release? An article published this week in The Chronicle of Higher Education describes several schools looking to cut merit-based scholarship programs, especially those dependent on state funding to exist. In Florida Bright Futures scholarship program will establish the total public funding college tuition for a set amount based on credit hours. In West Virginia Promise Scholarship max out scholarships at $ 4,750 instead of the old walking track. In Michigan, a state that has been hit particularly hard in this economy, its own program of scholarships promised in May to cut completely. The University of Texas recently announced it would no longer sponsor National Merit, a popular program of national scholarships for qualified students based on standardized test scores. The students had not received $ 13,000 in four years. The university promised an increase in need-based financial aid to help students who had received help from the National Merit, but also qualified for many need-based federal programs for financial assistance.

With a limited amount of state funds and federal level, schools must determine how best to address funding. The trend has been to give greater emphasis to the need, as the fundamental reason is that many students who received merit-based scholarships would be able to afford college anyway, or are eligible to Graduate Fellowships, to leave. And those who have requested need-based financial aid before the recession just need more help now.

One school takes the approach of the Good Samaritan. At Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College, parents and College Bound forms of financial aid not complete, but all credit received $ 3500 scholarships based on admission to the honors college are invited to examine the distribution of this money instead of students admitted to a greater financial need. In short, the money goes to students who really need it. Should be more complicated than that?