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  1. General Description
  2. Policy Content
  3. Terms & Definitions
  4. Revision Management
  5. Approval
 
 

External Resources

 
 
Document Number:
FINA-0006
Policy Owner:
Student Financial Services
Revision #:
v2.0
Status:
Approved

General Description

Policy Summary:

This policy addresses the reporting and application of external scholarships, grants, and other educational benefits toward a student’s financial aid package.

Purpose:

The purpose of this policy is to:
  • Ensure accurate reporting and coordination of all student financial aid resources in compliance with applicable regulations.
  • Promote transparency in the financial aid process.
  • Provide guidance on the handling and application of external funds toward the student account.
  • Prevent over-awards that exceed the student’s cost of attendance or demonstrated financial need.

Scope:

This policy applies to all Trinity University students who receive external funding from any source outside of the University, including but not limited to community organizations, employers, state programs, federal programs, and ROTC scholarships. It addresses the reporting, application, and coordination of these funds with the student’s overall financial aid package.

Policy Content

External resources are funds awarded by an organization other than Trinity University. These include scholarships awarded by high schools, religious, civic or other organizations; state and federally-funded scholarships or grants not listed on our website; tuition benefits received from an employer and/or ROTC scholarships through partnership with The University of Texas at San Antonio and St. Mary's University.

Students must notify the Office of Financial Aid of any external funds they will receive in a given year, regardless of the amount, as these funds must be counted as a resource in meeting your educational costs and coordinated with your other sources of financial aid. If you do not demonstrate financial need, an outside award may be added to any merit awards up to Trinity's cost of attendance. If you do demonstrate financial need, an outside award when combined with other sources of funding, cannot exceed your financial need. In such cases, outside awards will generally reduce work-study and need-based loans; however, circumstances may require the reduction of your federal, state, or institutional gift aid as a result of external funds.

While the Office of Student Accounts is able to consider scholarships you will be receiving from external sources as an anticipated credit in settling your student account, they are only able to do so if you have notified Student Financial Services that you will be receiving such funding. Be advised that a direct payment to your account for such funds will not be applied until we actually receive payment from the scholarship source. As a result, you should request that the funding source send a scholarship check directly to the Student Financial Services . If you receive the scholarship check, please forward these funds to the attention of Student Financial Services #77 at One Trinity Place, San Antonio, Texas, 78212-7200. It is University policy to divide scholarship payments equally between the fall and spring semesters. Scholarship donors may request a different distribution of funding outside of the 50/50 split by providing written instructions with the scholarship payment.

Note: The Internet can be a valuable resource in helping you to locate additional scholarship resources. Do not waste your money on fee-based scholarship matching services, which will not give you any better information than you can get from the free services available online. Scholarships that sound too good to be true usually are. Please beware: if you have to pay money to get money, it's probably a scam.

Terms & Definitions

Terms and Definitions:

Term:

Definition:

External Resources Funds or benefits awarded by any organization or entity outside of Trinity University, including scholarships, grants, tuition benefits, and ROTC awards.
Cost of Attendance (COA) The total estimated cost for a student to attend the University for an academic year, including tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, and other educational expenses.
Demonstrated Financial Need The difference between the COA and the students' Student Aid Index (SAI), as determined by the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile (institutional methodology).
Gift Aid Scholarships or grants that do not require repayment.
Work-Study A need-based program that provides part-time employment to eligible students to help meet educational expenses.
Need-Based Loan A loan awarded on the basis of financial need, often with favorable interest rates and repayment terms.

Revision Management

Revision History Log:

Revision #:

Date:

Recorded By:

v2.0 8/25/2025 11:32 AM Pamela Mota
v1.0 8/6/2019 3:38 PM Christina Pikla

 

Vice President Approval:

Name:

Title:

Eric Maloof Vice President for Enrollment Management
 
 

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