BOOTSTRAPS
  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
    • Board and Staff >
      • Finance Committee
      • Members Login
    • Financial Information
    • Board Member Job Description
  • DONATE
    • How to Donate
    • Honor Roll
    • Create a Scholarship/Create a Loan
    • Memorial Scholarships & Loans
    • Leave a Legacy
    • King Soopers Community Rewards
    • Bootstraps Supporters
  • SCHOLARSHIPS AND LOANS
    • Eligibility and Application Overview
    • CTE
    • Scholarships and Interest-free loans
    • FAFSA
    • How Are My Funds Disbursed?
    • Continuing Loans
    • Continuing Scholarships
    • Forms
  • OTHER RESOURCES
    • How do we decide?
    • Decoding Your Financial Aid Award Letter
    • What is Award Displacement?
    • Community College Transfer
    • Other Scholarships
  • Recipients
    • 2022 Recipients
    • 2021 Recipients
    • 2020 Recipients
    • 2019 Recipients
    • 2018 Recipients
    • 2017 Recipients >
      • 2017 Recipient Bios
    • Recipient Profiles
  • Events
  • Cap and Gown Club
  • FAQs for applicants
  • Staff Directory

What is Award Displacement?

Picture
It's one of the best days of your life! You got accepted to the college of your dreams and they are also giving you a lot of scholarship money. Even better, you earned a private scholarship for $5,000 - or is it? All of a sudden you find out the college has taken back some of the gift aid (scholarships) they had originally given you. What's going on?

When a student who is receiving need-based financial aid earns a private scholarship, it reduces the student’s demonstrated financial need. The college’s financial aid office must then reduce the student’s need-based financial aid package to compensate, since the student is considered to be “overawarded.” In other words, they think they've given you too much money for college. Federal regulations require colleges to reduce the need-based financial aid package to compensate.

Colleges calculate financial need using the following formula:
Cost of Attendance (COA) - Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Financial Need

The problem is, cost of attendance does not take into account things that are required for your major, such as a special computer or software, internet access, or technical equipment. It also doesn't include special needs services, such as daycare expenses for a child.

There are ways to work around award displacement and most colleges will do whatever they can to help you. Some of the ways the college can help are:
  • Calculate your actual cost of attendance which includes tuition, fees, books and supplies, room and board, transportation, insurance and other personal expenses. The posted COA on a college's website uses average figures to calculate expenses. If a college uses your actual expenses, many times the COA is higher and you can avoid some or all displacement.
  • Some colleges will reduce the amount of self-help aid (loans, work study) rather than your gift aid.
  • Some will use "professional judgement" to recalculate your EFC considering factors such as medical expenses or use current year income.
If you are receiving a Bootstraps Scholarship, we can also help you avoid award displacement.
  • Upon request, your scholarship can used for a future academic year or for summer school.
  • We will help you negotiate with your college scholarship office so you don't lose your institutional aid.
  • If necessary, we'll reimburse you for some educational expenses.

If you're a Bootstraps recipient and you think award displacement might happen to you, call us ASAP - 720-618-8924. We will discuss possible solutions to make sure this doesn't happen.

Picture
Helping mountain-area students reach their educational dreams since 1945.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Bootstraps   |   PO Box 253   |   Evergreen, CO  80437   |   720-618-8924   |   info@bootstrapsinc.org
Copyright 2022 Bootstraps, Inc.   
  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
    • Board and Staff >
      • Finance Committee
      • Members Login
    • Financial Information
    • Board Member Job Description
  • DONATE
    • How to Donate
    • Honor Roll
    • Create a Scholarship/Create a Loan
    • Memorial Scholarships & Loans
    • Leave a Legacy
    • King Soopers Community Rewards
    • Bootstraps Supporters
  • SCHOLARSHIPS AND LOANS
    • Eligibility and Application Overview
    • CTE
    • Scholarships and Interest-free loans
    • FAFSA
    • How Are My Funds Disbursed?
    • Continuing Loans
    • Continuing Scholarships
    • Forms
  • OTHER RESOURCES
    • How do we decide?
    • Decoding Your Financial Aid Award Letter
    • What is Award Displacement?
    • Community College Transfer
    • Other Scholarships
  • Recipients
    • 2022 Recipients
    • 2021 Recipients
    • 2020 Recipients
    • 2019 Recipients
    • 2018 Recipients
    • 2017 Recipients >
      • 2017 Recipient Bios
    • Recipient Profiles
  • Events
  • Cap and Gown Club
  • FAQs for applicants
  • Staff Directory