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A scholarship is an award of access to an institution, or a financial aid award for an individual student scholar, for the purpose of furthering their education. Scholarships are awarded based on a range of criteria which usually reflect the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award. Scholarships may be classified into the following primary groups

• Merit: This is financial aid for which financial need is not used to determine the recipient. The recipient may be determined by students’ athletic, academic, artistic or other abilities. The actual monetary value of the scholarship may be negligible, the scholarship being meant to motivate the student and promote the study of the subject. However, this is not always the case and the largest scholarships are almost always merit-based.
• Need: This is financial aid for which the student and family’s financial situation is a primary factor in determining the recipient. Usually such scholarship will cover all or part of the tuition and may even cover living costs. Very often even need-based private scholarships require the awardees to be distinguished students, as the deed founding the award may include a phrase like "for the studies of founder's favourite subject in founder's favourite institution of higher education for a talented youths of limited means from founder's home town/county/state, etc."
• Sociology: This is financial aid where applicants must initially qualify by race, religion, or national origin. After filtering the applicants based on their ethnicity, additional factors are taken into consideration to determine the final recipients.
• Institutional: These are scholarships awarded by a specific college or university (institution) to a student planning to attend that institution.
• General: These are other scholarships which are awarded for a variety of reasons that do not fall into one of the above categories. These may be for reasons of the student's association with the objectives of the sponsoring organization. For example, some corporations give scholarships to their employees' children or based upon academic success

Financial Aid

Student financial aid refers to funding intended to help students pay education expenses including tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, etc. for education at a college, university, or private school. General governmental funding for public education is not called financial aid, which refers to awards to specific individual students. A scholarship is sometimes used as a synonym for a financial aid award.

Types of financial aid

Financial aid may be classified into two types based on the criteria through which the financial aid is awarded: merit-based or need-based.

Merit-based

Merit-based scholarships include both scholarships awarded by the individual college or university and those awarded by outside organizations. Merit-based scholarships are typically awarded for outstanding academic achievements, although some merit scholarships can be awarded for special talents, leadership potential and other personal characteristics. Scholarships may also be given because of group affiliation (such as YMCA, Boys Club, etc.). Merit scholarships are sometimes awarded without regard for the financial need of the applicant. At many colleges, every admitted student is automatically considered for merit scholarships. At other schools, however, a separate application process is required. Athletic scholarships are a form of merit aid that take athletic talent into account.

Need-based

Need-based financial aid is awarded on the basis of the financial need of the student. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is generally used for determining federal, state, and institutional need-based aid eligibility. At private institutions, a supplemental application may be necessary for institutional need-based aid. 

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