Does financial aid follow you to another institutionentering as a freshman?

Question

Does financial aid follow you to another institutionentering as a freshman?

Answer 1

Not usually. Financial aid packages are generally specific to an institution, based on FAFSA information. The reason for that, is that otherwise, everybody would have been applying to NYU, to lock in all the Pell grants, scholarships, and financial aid they could get to meet the ridiculous NYU tuition, and then going to University of West Virginia, and buying a house with the difference.

Most (not all) financial aid is needs based, and what creates "needs" for undergraduates who are dependents of their parents, is tuition and housing costs in excess of Expected Family Contribution. Go to a cheaper school, and your "needs" drop, immediately, as well as, perhaps, your EFC. You might be able to "take along" scholarship or grant money that is affiliation based, or non-needs dependent; for example, if you got a $250 scholarship from the Railroad Engineer's Union, because your father is an engineer, and you asked, and that is non-needs based, you could probably count on that where ever you go. Some people really go all out on finding and applying for those kinds of scholarships and grants, and you'd be surprised how many $250 scholarships are out there, basically for just filling out 1 page applications, or writing a letter.