The Foreign Service Journal, December 2016

78 DECEMBER 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT money, including a few that are geared specifically to dependents of Foreign Ser- vice employees. However, there are some things to keep in mind about outside scholarships. Once you have received a need-based financial aid package from your college, you are required to report any outside scholarships to the financial aid office. Expect your financial aid package to be consequently reduced. When this happens, many colleges try to reduce your loans before they reduce grant money, but make sure you are aware of each of your chosen colleges’ financial aid policies if you plan to apply for outside scholarships. If you submit multiple private scholarship applica- tions, it’s possible to win enough money to eliminate your loans and even cover most, if not all, of your college expenses. If you are not filing the FAFSA (i.e., not applying for need-based aid), then any scholarship funds you win from outside sources are yours to apply toward tuition costs as you see fit. There are some exceptions to this; but generally, if you are not a financial aid recipient, you do not have to report scholarships to your college. Speaking of exceptions—many col- leges ask you to submit the FAFSA to be eligible for their merit-based scholar- ships. It’s not logical, but it’s also not a bad idea: even if you are comfortable now, your financial circumstances could change, and some colleges make it dif- ficult to request financial aid later if you enrolled initially without it. This is why experts often encourage everyone to file the FAFSA, whether they believe they need aid or not. An increasing number of schools also want to see your CSS Profile, or College Scholarship Service Profile, when consid- ering school-based financial aid. So make sure to check whether or not you need to If you decide to apply for outside scholarships, treat the process as a part- time job, starting well before senior year.