Can I use outside scholarships too?

Yes — but you must notify Student Financial Services. Under Pierce Promise, 'any private scholarship or grant may be applied to your room, board and book expenses.'

Franklin Pierce· Scholarship Stacking

Stacking Outside Scholarships at Franklin Pierce

How Franklin Pierce treats outside scholarships when they arrive on top of institutional merit aid.

Verified Jun 20264 days ago· COWORK

The verdict

Cost-of-attendance cap

At Franklin Pierce, an outside scholarship only triggers a cut when total aid would exceed cost of attendance. The strategy follows from that: outside scholarships are upside until the package would push past COA, at which point they start replacing institutional grants.

Stacking policy at Franklin Pierce

All aid combined (including athletic awards) cannot exceed the cost of attendance. Students must report private/outside scholarships to Student Financial Services. Under Pierce Promise, private scholarships/grants may be applied to room, board, and book expenses (they do not void the tuition coverage). Tuition Exchange scholarships CANNOT be combined with any other Franklin Pierce aid.

Catalog: athletic awards are 'calculated into the student's overall financial aid package, with all aid combined not to exceed cost of attendance.' Catalog: 'Students who receive private scholarships are required to notify the Office of Student Financial Services.' Catalog: 'Tuition Exchange cannot be combined with other Franklin Pierce sources of financial aid' (plus a $700/term administrative fee).

Source: https://catalog.franklinpierce.edu/current/finance/undergraduate-day.html

Common stacking mistakes

Reading the big merit number as cash in hand — it's a discount off a high sticker price.
Merit awards of $31,000-$35,000 go to 100% of incoming students, and the page itself frames the result as tuition capped at $13,500 (which excludes room, board, and fees). Compare net price, not award size.
Missing the Pierce Promise gates: NH residency, $60,000 income cap, 3.0 GPA, FAFSA, and living on campus at Rindge.
All criteria must be met; commuters get only 'a prorated discount,' not free tuition.
Not reporting an outside scholarship.
Catalog policy: 'Students who receive private scholarships are required to notify the Office of Student Financial Services.' Under Pierce Promise, private money is directed at room/board/books rather than stacking on tuition.
Trying to stack a Tuition Exchange award with FPU merit aid.
'Tuition Exchange cannot be combined with other Franklin Pierce sources of financial aid,' and recipients pay a $700-per-term administrative fee.

Stacking questions families ask

Can I use outside scholarships too?: Yes — but you must notify Student Financial Services. Under Pierce Promise, 'any private scholarship or grant may be applied to your room, board and book expenses.'

Aid-office script (copy & send)

A binding written answer beats a verbal hallway promise. This script is keyed to Franklin Pierce's published displacement type. Paste it, fill in your name, and send it before you accept an outside award.

Subject: Outside-scholarship treatment question, fall applicant

Dear Franklin Pierce Financial Aid Office,

I'm a fall applicant reviewing how outside scholarships interact with my institutional aid package. I've read the public policy at https://catalog.franklinpierce.edu/current/finance/undergraduate-day.html.

If my package is institutional merit + Pell + a $5,000 outside scholarship and the total stays under the COA worksheet, can you confirm no institutional dollar is reduced?

If the same outside award pushes the total over COA by $X, which aid line item shrinks first: institutional grant, loan, or work-study?

A written answer (email is fine) is important because the outside-scholarship awarding bodies want confirmation before disbursing. Thank you for the time.

— [Student name], [Application ID if available]

How Franklin Pierce compares across our verified dataset

160 of 751 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Franklin Pierce is in a recognizable cluster (160 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
669 of 751 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Franklin Pierce is one of them. The cohort minority (82 schools) only awards one-year scholarships, which means the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.

Sources used on this page

Every claim is checked against Franklin Pierce’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.