Financial Aid For Students: Merit-Based And Need-Based

Expenses on education and college life cannot be controlled even by the most reliable calculators. There are always some unpredictable situations that require more money to be spend, more activities to be taken, and more ideas to be used. This is why the idea of offering students some kind of financial aid is regarded as winning and necessary all the time.




Classification into Categories



Financial aid for students in colleges may be classified into two main groups: need-based and merit-based. Each of these categories has its own peculiarities and demands. In respect to these bases, different financial aid as well as different conditions of support is offered to students.



About merit-based financial aid…



This kind of financial aid is usually awarded to students as a result of their special skills, certain achievements in education or sport, demonstration of their talents, and other abilities that are helpful to college society.



The peculiar feature of merit-based help is the necessity to compete. The idea that someone deserves this financial aid more than other person does becomes a crucial point. It is necessary to choose the best and rely on a superior criterion. However, it is not the only one criterion that has to be admitted.



Such points like field of study, leadership skills, religion, ethnicity, and even community service are taken into consideration before the decision to provide a student with this merit-based financial help is made.



About need-based financial aid…



It happens that some students feel unbelievable financial need all the time. This is why they try to submit the FAFSA as soon as possible and get an opportunity to be financially supported by the government. In this case, no competitions should take place because it sounds senseless to compete and clear up who has the worst financial position.



Need-based help plays a very important role in the educational processes. Many students, who are eager to study but deprived of the opportunities, get such chance and continue their education to enlarge their level of knowledge and become professionals in the chosen spheres.