I was fortunate enough to win the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship this year, along with a few other major awards, including a presidential scholarship from my university that covers my entire tuition. As a result, my total unmet tuition and educational needs for the year are $0.
However, the $9,000 check from Amazon is made out to my school, so I have to send it to my school’s financial office. I’m curious if any past winners know whether the $9,000 would be refunded to me or if Amazon would reclaim it if the money goes unused. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I believe this will depend on your school. I recommend contacting your school’s financial aid office to find out how it will be applied to your account. My child is also a 2024 AFE recipient, and in her case, the $9k was applied to the balance on her bill.
While not specific to Amazon (my son didn’t win), we’re facing a similar situation with another scholarship. My son’s community college has a separate scholarship department that works alongside financial aid. He earned $30k in scholarships this year but only needs $15k. He received two checks, one for $6k and another for $10k, but the scholarships require that any excess money be returned.
Fortunately, his college is helping him avoid losing any of his hard-earned funds. They’ve applied the money to his second semester since the first is already paid. When registration opens for fall 2025, they will ensure the funds are rolled over to cover that term. The head of the department is overseeing this to ensure compliance with scholarship rules while preserving his funds.
I recommend contacting the person in charge of scholarships at your school to discuss how they handle these situations. It’s essential to have detailed conversations with them, as different scholarships have varying stipulations. In our case, the order in which scholarships are applied also matters, and the department is working to manage this efficiently.
Now would be a good time to visit your financial aid office and inquire about how the funds can be used. You might be able to apply them toward books or other expenses.