Application Process (How Do You Apply?)

Scholarships, more often than not, require that students seek out opportunities to submit an application.

Some schools have their own Gift Aid-granting foundations where students can submit an application to be considered for a scholarship, and there are numerous websites that offer scholarship opportunities (I have a post discussing this in further detail, with a list of sites that I use right here).

Generally, grants are automatically considered for students at the undergraduate level. The Pell grant is an example of a grant that is automatically assessed for undergraduate students who meet certain financial criteria after submitting the FAFSA to their school.

(Graduate level students typically go through a vastly different, more rigorous process, where they have to compose grant applications and document not just their own financial need, but also the cost of equipment for their research, timeline of completion, and parties involved. I will unpack this at a later date.)

Award Process (How Do You Receive Funds?)

Scholarships, most of the time, send the institution the student is enrolled in the money. The funds are then posted to the student’s account.

Grants tend to send the money to the student themselves. This could be in the form of a check or a direct deposit.

Authorized-Use Process (How Can You Use the Money?)

Scholarships usually have stricter stipulations. They may specify what type of courses students can use the funds for, what kind of school equipment, and how long a student can keep the scholarship money on their student account before it goes back to the donor or the Gift Aid department.

Grants are more lax in how the student can use the money, especially if the money is disbursed directly to the student and is not held in escrow by the school or donor. If all the grant money is disbursed, it is not usually required back at all, no matter if the student only uses part of it.

What Triple A Means For You

Understanding Triple A allows you to be strategic in how you seek out gift aid opportunities, especially when you are managing multiple funding sources and need to understand the potential differences in how you can use the money awarded.

This framework also helps you narrow down the type of gift aid you would want to primarily focus on. While I believe you should apply to as many gift aid offers as possible, if you are a student with certain living conditions, seeking grants may prove to be more beneficial for your purposes. Alternatively, if you only require funding to help pay tuition, scholarships could potentially be the better choice.

To Quickly Clarify

Some academic institutions will delegate the term “financial aid” to specifically refer to Self-Help aid like loans (government-issued or privatized) and Work-Study programs. As a result, their Financial Aid department may only be able to pull up and advise on information exclusively related to Self-Help aid and not Gift aid.

In this case, schools may have a separate department or foundation that exclusively handles Gift Aid. If students have questions about their scholarship or grant money, they should direct their questions to that department.

When in doubt, CC both departments on the e-mail and explain that you don’t know where to go or who to contact. It is okay to not know things; they will happily direct you to the correct place and answer your questions, after all, that is what they are there for.