--- title: Will Outside Scholarships Reduce the Financial Aid from My College? description: Winning money for school from outside organizations may reduce your aid from the government or your college, but the effect should be small. authors: - name: Kaitlin Mulhere role: Editor url: https://money.com/author/kaitlin-mulhere/ bio: Kaitlin Mulhere is an editor at Money.com. Since joining in 2015, she’s written and edited about a variety of personal finance topics, including banks, credit, student debt, saving strategies and more. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2015 articles: 217 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/KMulhere - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlin-mulhere-64503048/ - name: Kim Clark url: https://money.com/author/kim-clark/ at_money_since: 2013 articles: 62 covers: - Education - Housing - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance social: - https://x.com/Money_College former_staff: true published: '2016-02-09T15:00:21.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T09:54:20.000Z' section: Education tags: - College - fafsa - financial aid - financial need - grants - scholarships word_count: 255 canonical: https://money.com/scholarships-college-financial-aid/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Ask the Expert - Family Finance illustration](https://img.money.com/2014/11/140605_askexpert_famfi_illo.jpg?crop=0px%2C406px%2C2100px%2C1181px&quality=85) **Q. Will claiming outside grants or scholarships hurt our family's financial aid chances?** A. Like so much with college financial aid, it depends. If the total amount you're awarded in outside scholarships, [college scholarships](https://money.com/best-colleges/), and federal grants and loans exceeds the total cost of attendance at your college, the government requires that your aid be reduced. But what happens if the total amount of your award is less than your total need? Some colleges may still choose to reduce the need-based aid they offer you, since, on paper at least, a scholarship reduces your need. The decision depends on several factors, including the size of the awards and your level of financial need, says David Sheridan, a financial aid director and member of the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators, who participated in Money's recent FAFSA chat on Twitter. Small scholarships will have little, if any, effect, he says. And generally, the offset or reduction isn't dollar-for-dollar, so you're better off applying for scholarships and maximizing all your options. Colleges decide whether they'll reduce loans or grant aid, and since their policies on this vary, it's best to ask the colleges you've applied to if and how they will reduce your aid for outside scholarships. [![Best college education image](https://content.money.com/wp-content/themes/money2018/img/college-site-banner-01.png)](https://best-colleges.time.com/money/search-colleges/?xid=cm-mcpTop200Widget) Finally, a word to the wise: Don't be tempted to fib about the amount of outside scholarships you've won. If you don't report your awards to your college's financial aid office, you could be on the hook to pay back whatever amount exceeded your need, according to the College Board. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/scholarships-college-financial-aid/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Student Financial Aid", "item": "https://money.com/student-financial-aid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Will Outside Scholarships Reduce the Financial Aid from My College?" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/scholarships-college-financial-aid/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/scholarships-college-financial-aid/", "name": "Will Outside Scholarships Reduce the Financial Aid from My College?", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-02-09T15:00:21.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/scholarships-college-financial-aid/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/scholarships-college-financial-aid/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T09:54:20.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Will Outside Scholarships Reduce the Financial Aid from My College?", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2014/11/140605_askexpert_famfi_illo.jpg?crop=0px%2C406px%2C2100px%2C1181px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "140605_AskExpert_FamFi_illo" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kaitlin Mulhere", "url": "https://money.com/author/kaitlin-mulhere/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/kaitlin-mulhere/#author", "description": "Kaitlin Mulhere is an editor at Money.com. 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