（一） 助学金（need-based)
助学金是为了帮助收入不高，不能承担孩子的全部大学费用的家庭的。但这个“收入不高”是一个太模糊的定义，所以，每所大学都有自己的计算标准。（各所大学之间的这个标准不完全一样，但非常相近。） 大学通过计算每个家庭的Expected family contribution (EFC)来决定给每个学生提供多少帮助。简单的说，大学先计算一个孩子在大学的全部开销，包括学费，书本费，来回的旅费，生活费等等，然后再计算 EFC，全部开销减掉EFC，就是大学提供给学生的一个Need-based financial aid package了，也就是助学金。
这个package的组成分三个部分：Grant/Scholarship， loan，和work/study program。 Grant/scholarship是不需还的，也就是所谓的free money。学校提供的loan(贷款）一般是低息，在大学四年也是不需还的，所以这种优惠贷款是要有需求的人家才能拿到的，是助学金的一个部分。 work/study program是孩子在学校里打工，挣点零用钱。这个一般不多，从一千到四五千，毕竟孩子还是上学为主。要指出的是有的学校会给孩子安排一个工作机会，有的学校不一定安排。另外，校园打工的工资相对低，所以，孩子熟悉周围环境后，很多会选择校外的工作机会。
如何比较不同学校之间的package呢？显而易见的是grant/scholarship的多少和比例，因为这是free money。其实，一个学校的好与差在一定程度上也反映在grant/scholarship在助学金里的比例。好学校，校友捐款多，当然会给学生更多的scholarship/grant。 Grant/scholarship的来源也会因人而不同，有政府的，私人设立的特殊基金。但作为学生本人，不必为这个操心。学校在安排的时候都会根据学生的情况来决定。如政府的pell grant,只有合乎条件的家庭才能享受。
说到这里，家长就知道真正的问题是如何计算EFC了。这是家庭提前安排孩子大学费用的基石。要指出的是近两年有些大学在计算这个EFC时提出了新的计算公式，如哈佛去年提出的家庭收入18万以下，EFC按10%计算，但大多数学校似乎没有跟进。在目前的经济状况下，一般大学跟进的可能性也不大。老的计算公式还是有一定的指导作用的，尤其是孩子还有几年时间才上大学的家庭，了解这个计算的思路，对今后家庭财经计划会有帮助。我几年前研究了一下这个计算公式，网友可以参考我以前的文章：
家庭负担孩子大学费用部分的（EFC）计算
http://blog.wenxuecity.com/blogview.php?date=200608&postID=1424
我给孩子上大学的费用的准备战略
http://blog.wenxuecity.com/blogview.php?date=200612&postID=22552
近两年的变化部分，我没有详细研究，家长可以自己研究一下。同时希望家长阅读CNN的Money 101章节，那是家庭理财的入门参考，包括不同经济状况的家庭的孩子大学费用的准备。我的准备战略只适合我自己的经济状况。
CNN Money101的website是： http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/index.html
另外，这个website也提供许多有用的信息和工具： www.finaid.org
助学金是每年根据上一年的家庭收入情况进行调整的。所以，孩子上大学前一年家长就要开始（申请early decision的，要再前一年的税表）就要收集各种报税的表格和资料。孩子申请大学的那一年，税表会来不及填，就得把数据寄给学校和联邦相关机构，往往会手忙脚乱，提前收集资料（包括最后一张工资单），保留前一年的税表就会很有帮助。孩子进了学校，每年还得提供这些数据，但时间上没有申请那年紧张。大学都是先处理新生，再处理在校的学生。一般情况下，家庭经济情况变化不大的话，学校的助学金变化也不大。学校实际上是在第一年把后面三年的计划准备好了，所以，变化不大，助学金不会有太大变化。但家庭经济情况出现巨变，尤其是在经济情况不好的时候父母失业，我能说的是有钱的好学校可能会有能力调整，一般学校就难以预测了。
（二）奖学金（merit-based)
奖学金是给合乎特定条件的申请人的。这种比较常见的有体育方面的人才。纯粹给学习成绩好的Scholarship/fellowship，在顶尖大学里几乎没有。所以，对于有志于藤校的家长和孩子，要先有思想准备--没有奖学金！但一些二流三流大学，为吸引好学生，也会有这类仅凭好成绩就能拿到的奖学金。对于这些大学，我建议家长和孩子要深入了解这些学校。有些学校会有比较好的program，值得孩子和家长值得全面考虑和衡量。对于不喜欢竞争的孩子，这些学校还有独特的地方：孩子在这种学校里会有鹤立鸡群的感觉，GPA会比较高，有利于今后申请graduate program。所以，家长要识货。
在考虑学校提供的奖学金的同时，家长不要忘了奖学金的另一个来源：许多美国的企业和组织设立Scholarship/fellowship。这类奖学金各有其特殊的条件，家长和孩子要一个一个去研究，再决定申请与否。这些奖学金的数目一般不大，从几百到几千，但孩子可以申请多个，有时同一篇Essay， 稍微改动一下，就可以申请另一个，值得一试。
要指出的是拿学校助学金的孩子，如果你拿到了学校外面的奖学金，这个是要报告给学校，并会从need-based financial aid package里扣除。但这并不一定是坏事--许多学校可以容许学生/家长选择扣除的部分--如果是loan或者work/study部分，不是很好嘛。
每所大学或机构会对学生的成绩有要求。有奖学金是一年一年的。所以，家长在计划每年的费用安排时，要了解每种奖学金的情况，便于下年计划的调整。
（6/12/2009）
闲话美国大学的助学金和奖学金
雪狗2014 发表评论于
我们都自己出了 当时两个人都有工作
A-mao 发表评论于
回复Yangtze430030的评论:
多谢Yangtze430030！
写这些文章的目的是给后来人的。也是经历过才敢写下来。想着那些还在为孩子大学学费准备的父母， 因为刚拿到了女儿大学第二年的资助就写下来的。及没有向炫耀，也没有什么可炫耀的，更没有贬低哪所学校的意思。读我的博客的也大多是我生活中的朋友。所以，要舞蹈了他们，我也不好意思。既然提出来了，也是好事，至少我知道WU有merit-based资助了。
其实上网就是灌水找点乐趣，顺便交换点有用的信息。从生活中朋友反映的情况来看，我这个博客还对他们有点用，也算没有浪费我的时间和精力。我还有一个儿子在小学，我在这里多吸收点有用的信息，今后也会有用。
多谢你的支持！
多谢Yangtze430030！
写这些文章的目的是给后来人的。也是经历过才敢写下来。想着那些还在为孩子大学学费准备的父母， 因为刚拿到了女儿大学第二年的资助就写下来的。及没有向炫耀，也没有什么可炫耀的，更没有贬低哪所学校的意思。读我的博客的也大多是我生活中的朋友。所以，要舞蹈了他们，我也不好意思。既然提出来了，也是好事，至少我知道WU有merit-based资助了。
其实上网就是灌水找点乐趣，顺便交换点有用的信息。从生活中朋友反映的情况来看，我这个博客还对他们有点用，也算没有浪费我的时间和精力。我还有一个儿子在小学，我在这里多吸收点有用的信息，今后也会有用。
多谢你的支持！
Yangtze430030 发表评论于
Another forum for WshU Admission:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/703919-washu-acceptance.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/703919-washu-acceptance.html
Yangtze430030 发表评论于
As a parent who just underwent the process, I agree with A-mao almost completely. I believe he/she just went through the college application also. A-mao spent some time on this and we should be grateful for his/her effort and be nice about him/her instead of charging him/her for misleading. Intentionally misleading is a pretty serious charge in my opinion. One of the reasons that 顶尖大学 do not provide merit-based scholarship is that almost all of the students are super smart (I am not saying that they are all very start because it’s obvious that there are some who are not all that smart but at least good enough), it’s almost impossible to grant merit-based scholarships to some but not other students. Also, they already met 100% of the family financial needs and do not need to provide any further financial aid based on merits.
In terms of definition of 顶尖大学, there is no uniform one and is highly controversial. Some people set more stringent criteria and other have more relaxed ones. Most people will agree that HYP will do if we set the criterion really stringent. Some people may say HYPSM. None of the above criteria are acknowledged by all and nobody says that other colleges other than HYPSM are not good. The first few of them come to my mind will be Duke, CalTech and Chicago in my opinion. Of cause, Columbia, Penn will be in the list also. MatheTeacher is particularly defensive about Washington University. I believe he/she meant Washington University in St. Luois (WashU or WUSTL). I am in medical field and I know WashU is particularly good in medicine. But overall it’s going to be a step lower than HYPSM for sure. If A-mao sets the criteria really stringent then HYPSM are first class and WashU is second class. Nothing is wrong about it. Super rich schools can afford financially-blind need-based scholarships but most of the schools can not. Undergraduate admission at WashU is NOT a FINANCIALLY-BLIND process, which sets apart WashU from HYPSM. As far as I know, if you get into WashU, their facilities are pretty good but a lot of things are going to be more expensive comparing to many other colleges. Also, WashU financial aid has a greater room to negotiate than most of the colleges. In other words, you will get a low-ball offer and the college expects you to bargain. I am not saying that financial aid from other colleges can not bargain, but the room is not going to be as large. WashU is well known for some admission practices that is not very fair to some applicants and I am not going to elaborate here. A sign of that is that WashU will send you note once every few days to encourage you to apply. You may only get a couple of them from HYP the whole application season. Don’t get me wrong, WashU is a great school. But a lot of people just don’t like some of its admission practices. You can look at collegeconfidential.com for some more: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/668452-wash-u-admissions-need-blind.html.
Again, thank A-mao for a great summary of the college financial aid.
In terms of definition of 顶尖大学, there is no uniform one and is highly controversial. Some people set more stringent criteria and other have more relaxed ones. Most people will agree that HYP will do if we set the criterion really stringent. Some people may say HYPSM. None of the above criteria are acknowledged by all and nobody says that other colleges other than HYPSM are not good. The first few of them come to my mind will be Duke, CalTech and Chicago in my opinion. Of cause, Columbia, Penn will be in the list also. MatheTeacher is particularly defensive about Washington University. I believe he/she meant Washington University in St. Luois (WashU or WUSTL). I am in medical field and I know WashU is particularly good in medicine. But overall it’s going to be a step lower than HYPSM for sure. If A-mao sets the criteria really stringent then HYPSM are first class and WashU is second class. Nothing is wrong about it. Super rich schools can afford financially-blind need-based scholarships but most of the schools can not. Undergraduate admission at WashU is NOT a FINANCIALLY-BLIND process, which sets apart WashU from HYPSM. As far as I know, if you get into WashU, their facilities are pretty good but a lot of things are going to be more expensive comparing to many other colleges. Also, WashU financial aid has a greater room to negotiate than most of the colleges. In other words, you will get a low-ball offer and the college expects you to bargain. I am not saying that financial aid from other colleges can not bargain, but the room is not going to be as large. WashU is well known for some admission practices that is not very fair to some applicants and I am not going to elaborate here. A sign of that is that WashU will send you note once every few days to encourage you to apply. You may only get a couple of them from HYP the whole application season. Don’t get me wrong, WashU is a great school. But a lot of people just don’t like some of its admission practices. You can look at collegeconfidential.com for some more: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/668452-wash-u-admissions-need-blind.html.
Again, thank A-mao for a great summary of the college financial aid.
A-mao 发表评论于
另外，老兄要把知道的一流大学有奖学金的名单列出来，也是功德无量的事，便于后来人参考。我也一定出子女坛更改。 WU是相当不错的大学。我的二三流绝不敢包括WU。我没有研究每一所一流学校，所以，我用了“几乎”一次，而不是“完全肯定”。
A-mao 发表评论于
回复mathteacher的评论:
You better check IVY system, see whether they have merit-based scholarship or not.
I am not an expert. I only write based on my own experience and knowledge. I have no intention to misleading anybody.
You better check IVY system, see whether they have merit-based scholarship or not.
I am not an expert. I only write based on my own experience and knowledge. I have no intention to misleading anybody.
mathteacher 发表评论于
Sounds like you are an expert in college scholarship. "纯粹给学习成绩好的Scholarship/fellowship，在顶尖大学里几乎没有"。What's your definition of 顶尖大学? "但一些二流三流大学，为吸引好学生，也会有这类仅凭好成绩就能拿到的奖学金。" I know that there are several academic fellowships covering four year tuitions in Washington University. According to your definition, Wash U is 二流三流大学, right? Don't be misleading here.
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