Scholarships Forfeited. Is There An Opportunity?

The May 1 deposit deadline has come and gone. Without the required deposits, colleges no longer guarantee a slot or a scholarship they awarded to an accepted applicant. The lack of a deposit usually signals to the college that the student isn't coming.

Let's do a scenario. Student X is awarded $12,000 in grants from College Y. Student Z didn't get the aid he wanted from College Y. Student X doesn't send in a deposit thereby forfeiting his $12,000. Student Z is now thinking, "Hmmm...that's left-over money that's up for grabs!"

Maybe.

What really happens to so-called "left-over" money?

Let's do another scenario. College Y allocated X amount of dollars for scholarships in 2008. From years of past no-shows, they have already calculated what percentage of scholarships will be forfeited. Because such a calculation is not an exact science, the college still acted like an airline: they overbooked. For example, Boston College sent out over 7,000 acceptances to fill 2,250 slots. But BC has already calculated from past years that nearly 70% of the accepted students will not show up (yes...18-year-olds reject colleges).

What this means is that the college already calculated what scholarships would NOT be taken, a real gamble that every college takes this time of year: the college has no extra money because more students sent in their deposits than the college anticipated.

Or, it's possible that not enough students sent in their deposits. This could be interpreted as the school having "left-over" money.

Don't count on it. The colleges have no obligation to redistribute that money. Colleges are a business, and like any business, they watch their bottom line; however, to reallocate money could make good business sense to a college in this example: an affluent family is asking for some money. The college easily decides to award this family a little "feel good" grant because they'll make more money than they would from awarding a talented but destitute student a lot of money (a wealthy family is looked upon as a potential donor later - one of the many dark secrets colleges don't publicize. To the contrary, the Ivies do the opposite for better press releases).

Is it worth your time and effort to ask for more money now, especially if your EFC (Expected Family Contribution - what you're expected to spend) exceeds what it cost to attend College Y?

Wealth is power. If you've got it, use it.