Mastering Merit-Based Aid: Scholarships, Waivers, and Assistantships
- Jack McCarthy
- Oct 9, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 9, 2024
Merit-based aid is awarded based on academic and personal achievements, not financial need. It includes scholarships, waivers, and assistantships and doesn’t require qualification of financial need through the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
When searching for merit-based aid, focus on terms like scholarships, waivers, and assistantships. In contrast, grants are typically need-based.
There are four different categories of funding sources for financial aid and scholarships: Federal, State, Institutional, and third party/private/strategic aid.
Federal
Federal merit-based aid is hard to obtain and often linked to affiliations with federal agencies. For example, students who work full time, have internships, or family members employed by certain agencies may be eligible.
FAFSA is the primary source of federal funding, offering need-based aid to those that qualify and federal loans to all students, regardless of financial standing. However, FAFSA does not provide any merit-based aid. Students who do not demonstrate financial need are typically only eligible for federal loans through the FAFSA.
State
Check if your state offers scholarship opportunities for residents attending in-state schools. For example, Florida provides various scholarships for eligible residents who choose to attend Florida institutions.
Here is an example of the scholarships that the state of Florida offers:
Note for link above:
Scholarships are merit based, and grants are financial needs based.
Bright Futures is the state of Florida's most popular scholarship. The eligibility requirements for Bright Futures are based on performance on the SAT and/or ACT and community service hours. It allots funding up to 100% of the standard tuition and fees rate for the schools in Florida. Check if your state offers a similar program.
Institutional
Institutional scholarships are funded by the college or university you attend and are often awarded based on your admissions application. Not only are you trying to get into the institution, but also beat out other students for scholarships, so make sure your admissions application stands out!
To increase your chances, pay extra attention to essay responses, and aim to submit a quality application mid-way through the application window. For example, if applications open on August 1 and close on November 1, consider submitting between September 1 and October 1 to ensure your application is reviewed thoroughly.
Scholarship Search Engines:
Many schools have unique scholarship search engines to help students find funding opportunities. The CSS Profile and Scholarship Universe are popular platforms that match students with institutional aid; however, these platforms typically have more scholarships in the Third party/Private/Strategic aid category than institutional aid (see below category).
To access Scholarship Universe, search for “[Your School’s Name] Scholarship Universe” to see if your institution participates. Alternatively, typing “[Your School’s Name] scholarship search engine” into a search engine can help you find relevant scholarship resources specific to your school.
Examples of participants with Scholarship Universe are the University of Kentucky, University of Arizona, and University of Florida:
Tips:
I’ve noticed that some links on various university scholarship search engines are either broken or missing for certain scholarships. For example, on the University of Florida’s search engine (https://www.sfa.ufl.edu/search/), some scholarships lack direct links. In such cases, I recommend performing a Google search for the scholarship name and using your judgment to verify if it’s the correct scholarship.
Departmental and College Level Scholarship's:
I recommend reaching out to both your major’s department and the college your department belongs to for additional merit-based aid opportunities. For example, if you’re an English major at the University of Florida, you should contact the English Department as well as the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, since the English Department is part of this college.
If you’re a graduate student, reach out to your graduate advisors about available waivers, grants, and scholarship opportunities. If they’re unsure, ask who in your department oversees funding for these waivers, grants, and scholarships.
Tips:
I recommend reaching out to your department and college periodically to inquire about available funding. January is generally the best time to ask individual departments if they have funding opportunities for the following school year.
Third party/Private/Strategic aid
Third-party, private, and strategic aid all refer to the same category of funding. This type of aid is provided by donors outside of federal, state, or institutional sources and may go by other names, though these three are most commonly used.
Examples of donors for third-party or private aid include:
High school organizations
Local or small businesses (e.g., restaurants, credit unions)
Medium-sized businesses (e.g., utility companies, regional store chains like Publix)
Large corporations (e.g., Amazon, Nike, Chick-fil-A, Burger King, Bank of America)
Community organizations (e.g., Rotary Club, Kiwanis, Women’s clubs)
Religious organizations
Local government entities (e.g., your county’s public school board)
These and many other sources may offer scholarships or grants to support students.
The best way to secure this type of aid is by being aware and actively seeking these opportunities through scholarship search engines. As noted with Institutional scholarship search engines, most scholarships listed on these search engines are Third party/Private/Strategic aid.
Tips:
Most scholarships are intended for the following academic year, but it’s worth checking to see if there are any available for the current year. For example, scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic year—running from August 2025 to May 2026—typically open between January and July of 2025. January is generally the best time to receive funding opportunities for the following school year.
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