Georgetown Merit Aid

1. Applying to Georgetown hoping a strong academic profile will lower the bill.+

   Georgetown's published financial aid materials describe institutional scholarships as need-based only. Outside of athletic grants-in-aid administered by Athletics, the financial aid office characterizes its scholarship pool as need-based awards. A high-stats student whose family doesn't qualify for need-based aid pays full sticker regardless of academic profile.

2. Assuming Georgetown stacks outside scholarships like Brown does.+

   Georgetown's published order ends in 'University need-based Scholarship.' That means once outside awards exceed the combined self-help + expected contribution allocation, every additional dollar reduces Georgetown's own grant 1:1. The displacement risk is real and worth modeling before chasing very large outside scholarships.

3. Treating Georgetown's 'meets 100% of need' commitment as a discount mechanism.+

   Georgetown commits to meeting demonstrated need, but demonstrated need is calculated from FAFSA + CSS Profile inputs that include home equity, business income, and non-custodial parent assets. Many middle-income families calculate lower 'need' at Georgetown than they expected — net price stays high.

Families with substantial demonstrated need who qualify for Georgetown's commitment to meet full need. Students looking for academic-merit discounts on Georgetown's sticker price should not target Georgetown for that purpose — the school is structurally not designed for it.

Georgetown publishes a four-step displacement order for outside scholarships: student expected contribution, federal loan, federal work-study/campus employment, then University need-based scholarship. Unlike Brown, Georgetown WILL reduce its own grant once self-help is fully displaced.

Per Georgetown's published outside-benefits policy, an external scholarship first reduces the student's expected contribution, then federal loans, then federal work-study or campus employment, and finally the University's need-based scholarship. The fourth step matters: families who win outside awards larger than the combined self-help + expected contribution will see Georgetown's institutional grant reduced dollar-for-dollar above that threshold.

Source

• Does Georgetown University offer merit scholarships?

  No academic-merit scholarships. Georgetown's Office of Student Financial Aid describes its scholarship pool as need-based, and the undergraduate scholarship page states 'each year, Georgetown University awards several hundred need-based scholarships to eligible undergraduates.' The only awards Georgetown publicly attributes to academic-or-athletic potential are 'athletic grants-in-aid… awarded by the Department of Athletics on the basis of athletic and academic potential.'

• How does Georgetown treat outside scholarships?

  Georgetown publishes a displacement order: outside aid first reduces the student's expected contribution, then federal loans, then federal work-study or campus employment, and finally University need-based scholarship. The fourth step means large outside awards can reduce Georgetown's own grant.

• Does Georgetown meet 100% of demonstrated need?

  Yes. Georgetown's Office of Student Financial Aid states that its scholarships 'meet 100% of eligible undergraduates' demonstrated financial need.' Note that the financial aid package includes loans and work-study — Georgetown has not gone fully loan-free like some peers.

• Will my outside scholarship be a net gain at Georgetown?

  For modest amounts, yes — outside awards first reduce student contribution and loans, both of which are real out-of-pocket or future-debt savings. For very large outside awards (above the combined self-help cap), the marginal dollar above that threshold reduces Georgetown's institutional grant 1:1, producing zero net gain.

• What is Georgetown's financial aid mission?

  Per the financial aid office's published statement: 'Our mission is to make it financially possible for every admitted applicant to attend Georgetown University.' The mechanism is need-based, however — not merit-based — so families with no calculated need don't see a discount.