Anonymous wrote:Merit aid is usually for all four years.
Financial aid (based on need) is done every year with updated information.

A note on merit aid: different schools have different GPA requirements, which can be awfully tough for STEM majors to maintain.

I think my kid needs to maintain about a 2.3, but some schools want a 3.5. 3.5 is unrealistic for engineering students. If it happens, count your blessings.

Some schools are notorious for this. You can spot them by looking at the stat: proportion of freshman with merit aid vs upperclassmen. Princeton Review guide I think includes both numbers

Since my income was going to go up during my kid’s college, we strongly favored merit offers over Fin Aid

Anonymous wrote:Is it guaranteed for 4 years? Or do they recalculate the whole offer every year. We are a donut hole family. After our DC's first year, our savings will go down by a sizeable chunk. Do they recalculate FA so the next year the EFC is lower?

How much can you pay per year? There are private schools that will give you enough merit to bring your costs into the range of a public. But these are not the "top" privates. I am talking schools like Ursinus, Juniata, Susquehanna, just to name a few in PA. I'm sure there are others if you look at the College Confidential thread that is super long.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it a common practice that schools offer you an aid to attract you to enroll in the school, then starting the second year they reduce or no longer offer any more? They know you have already invested one year in the school, you will not go anywhere even without any aid from the school.

I am wondering the same thing.

No, schools don't play games like that. However, they may offer you a different amount year to year (more or less both possible).