Going to lose scholarship b/c of add'l. funding??

[lauren20]

Thanks for taking a look at my question in advance I'm wondering if anyone can provide any insight...

So here's the situation:

I received a $12,000 scholarship/year, which covers roughly 75% of in-state tuition. However, I just found out that I was awarded a GSA position through another department in the university, which will cover full tuition reimbursement - very happy about that, it's a great position. But, I'm wondering, what is the likelihood that the school would transfer "tuition dollars" (the $12K scholarship) to cash for living expenses?? I was just wondering if anyone has had any similar experience in the past, and what I can expect the school's response to be. I'm also not sure how most universities (as opposed to employers) handle tuition reimbursement. I'm visiting the school at the end of the month and I'll inquire about how the scholarship might change, but I figured it would be best to go in having a rough idea of how they might respond and how to ask for what I want, etc. I'm just confused because both offers are tuition-related so I don't know how that changes things. :|

Any ideas?? Thanks!

[rugby]

Probably zero to none, but I guess it all depends on the wording. See if you can get the original 12k as a fellowship rather than a tuition waver. In my experience, though, external funding almost always replaces (rather than supplements) departmental commitments.

Good luck!

[rising_star]

Honestly, you could ask about the scholarship now and it wouldn't matter. If it's from the university and was solely a tuition scholarship, the tuition portion of the award will probably be replaced by the GSA position, since it offers more.

For example, I have a fellowship that pays all but in-state tuition. My TA position gives me a tuition waiver. I don't get the money the university (through the fellowship) would be using to pay for my out-of-state tuition (otherwise I'd make $20K more than I do!).

[lauren20]

Okay, thank you both for your feedback. I don't know if the scholarship is designated tuition-only (but I wouldn't be surprised if it is), but there are two different scholarships that combine for a total of $12K so I'm hoping maybe one has fewer restrictions on it. So it doesn't say "tuition scholarship," but it does say that it's going to be posted to my online account each semester where the tuition is billed.

I'm still hoping that maybe I can convince them to give me SOMETHING since this is one of the few GSA positions in the university that does not offer a stipend with it. I can deal with taking out loans for living expenses, but obviously it would be better not to

Does anyone know of any unrestricted grad scholarships out there? (for living expenses) I'm sure they are few and far between... thanks again for your help and if anyone has any other insight please post it!

[denidzo]

Thanks for taking a look at my question in advance I'm wondering if anyone can provide any insight...

So here's the situation:

I received a $12,000 scholarship/year, which covers roughly 75% of in-state tuition. However, I just found out that I was awarded a GSA position through another department in the university, which will cover full tuition reimbursement - very happy about that, it's a great position. But, I'm wondering, what is the likelihood that the school would transfer "tuition dollars" (the $12K scholarship) to cash for living expenses?? I was just wondering if anyone has had any similar experience in the past, and what I can expect the school's response to be. I'm also not sure how most universities (as opposed to employers) handle tuition reimbursement. I'm visiting the school at the end of the month and I'll inquire about how the scholarship might change, but I figured it would be best to go in having a rough idea of how they might respond and how to ask for what I want, etc. I'm just confused because both offers are tuition-related so I don't know how that changes things. :|

Any ideas?? Thanks!

I can only offer my own experience here, yours may vary. I received a scholarship, supposedly for tuition, from an outside source. I also had a TA position that paid a stipend and gave full tuition remission. The scholarship came in to the university, and since I owed nothing they disbursed it to me. It was nice to have money to live on! So please check with the source of the scholarship and see what the restrictions are. If it comes down to it, full tuition remission is a much better deal. My first year I took out loans for living expenses, so that is always an option for you as well.

[phreeduh]

At my school these things seem to vary by department. I just received an external scholarship worth about 17 000, which means my school will no longer be paying me a stipend to TA even though I still need to perform that job. I wasn't aware of that fact when I applied for external funding or perhaps I wouldn't have bothered..

[twocosmicfish]

It depends on the wording of the assistantship and the scholarship. Either one can have language reducing or eliminating the award in the event of duplication, but otherwise you get both! The only other potential limit is that your total financial aid is capped if you have student loans, so if you receive some combination of aid that exceeds this cap, your loans get reduced to bring the total down. Please note that this pretty much never happens to grad students, it's generally an undergrad issue.