What is Merit Aid?
“Merit Aid” is the general term for grants, scholarships and discounts that a college awards to an admitted student without regard to financial need. Merit aid may be based on academic or athletic achievements, special talents such as music, where the student lives or other demographic characteristics. Merit aid, also known as non-need-based aid, is different from need-based aid which is awarded based on the student’s economic situation.
Unlike need-based aid, which is determined entirely by your financial circumstances, merit aid is given in recognition of your achievements — be they academic, athletic, artistic or otherwise. Think of merit aid as the payoff for those good grades and high SAT and ACT scores you worked so hard to achieve, as well as the hours you spent pursuing extracurricular activities, personal interests and hobbies. Merit aid, however, is different than the typical college scholarships offered by private groups. Those awards are obtained by only a very small percentage of applicants, most of whom have a 4.0 GPA. Tens of thousands of students each year receive merit aid from hundreds of colleges. The threshold to receive these awards may be as low as a 2.5 GPA. In other words, only the top percentile will get most private scholarships, but merit aid is readily achievable. How Can Merit Aid Be Used? Merit aid typically offsets tuition and college fees. For example, merit aid may allow an out-of-state
