Scholarship displacement is a major issue for low and middle income students. It happens when someone gets financial aid and then wins a private scholarship. The college reduces the financial aid by the amount of the scholarship instead of it being extra money.
For example, if a student gets $20,000 in financial aid and then wins $2,000 in scholarships, the school cuts the aid to $18,000 and adds the scholarship. It feels unfair to students who need the help.
I had no idea about this. That’s so unfair to students.
I’m a Ph.D. student at FSU. This is actually a common practice in financial aid. It happened to me too during undergrad at University of Washington. My case was with a departmental scholarship instead of a private one, but it worked the same way.
This happened to me last year with my FAFSA. I lost my Pell Grant because of a mistake. I begged the school for help or I’d have to drop out since it paid 70% of my tuition. They gave me half of what I needed, and it messed up my aid completely. I’m still upset about it. Colleges don’t seem to care about low and middle income students since we’re not their big money makers, but in my experience, we’re the ones who work the hardest and get more involved.
@River
That sounds so frustrating. The financial aid system really doesn’t make sense sometimes.
The scholarship I have sends me a check every semester, so it doesn’t go through my school. Is it still worth applying for scholarships if this happens?
Morgan said:
The scholarship I have sends me a check every semester, so it doesn’t go through my school. Is it still worth applying for scholarships if this happens?
If the scholarship reports directly to your school, displacement might still happen. If you’re getting it in cash, though, you might be fine. Check with your school to be sure.
Do all schools do this, even community colleges?
Quirin said:
Do all schools do this, even community colleges?
Yeah, it’s pretty standard across most schools.