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Hood· Scholarship Stacking

Stacking Outside Scholarships at Hood

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

Verified Jun 20264 days ago· COWORK

The verdict

Mixed displacement

At Hood, an outside scholarship is treated category-by-category, where some aid stacks and some displaces. The strategy follows from that: the answer depends on which aid category the outside award lands against, so get the order in writing.

hood.edu publishes the $71,374 cost-of-attendance worksheet the math is run against.

Stacking policy at Hood

Hood designates only its small Honors ($2,000), Legacy ($1,000) and — for transfers — Phi Theta Kappa ($2,000) awards as 'stackable' on top of a merit scholarship. Outside (private) scholarships must be reported and may reduce the student's loan or work commitment, and may also reduce a portion of Hood's own grant aid. Students living off campus (not with relatives) and independent students cannot receive aid above the cost of attendance from any combination of sources.

The first-year and transfer scholarship pages list specific 'Stackable Awards' (Honors, Legacy, Phi Theta Kappa) that 'may be awarded in addition to the above merit scholarships.' The Financial Aid FAQs state that outside scholarships may reduce a student's loan or work commitment and may also reduce a portion of the College's grant aid. The cost of attendance page adds a COA cap for off-campus/independent students covering all funding sources including merit aid.

Source: https://www.hood.edu/admission-aid/financial-aid/forms-resources/financial-aid-faqs

Common stacking mistakes

  • Assuming an outside/private scholarship simply adds on top of your Hood package.

    Hood's FAQ states outside scholarships must be reported and 'may reduce the amount of a student's loan or work commitment. They may also reduce a portion of the College's grant aid' — so a private award can displace Hood grant money, not just loans.

  • Independent or off-campus students stacking aid above the cost of attendance.

    The COA page warns that students living off campus without parents and independent students 'cannot receive more than the cost of attendance from any combination of institutional, federal, state or private funding source,' including merit aid, tuition benefits, ROTC awards and RA contracts.

Stacking questions families ask

Do I need a separate application for Hood's merit scholarships?
No. All students applying for admission are automatically considered — 'No special application is required.' The only exception noted in Hood's FAQs is the Honors Program, which has its own application (Honors admits get a stackable $2,000 award).
How much are Hood's first-year merit scholarships?
The published ladder is: Trustee $30,000, Presidential $28,000, Dean $24,000, Leadership $20,000, Achievement $15,000 and Pillar $2,000 per year, with stackable Honors ($2,000) and Legacy ($1,000) awards on top.
What happens if I win an outside scholarship?
You must notify the financial aid office. Outside scholarships may reduce your loan or work commitment, and may also reduce a portion of the College's grant aid.

Rules that bite at Hood

The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from Hood's own published policy, not generic advice.

  • renewalTrustee Scholarship: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out

    Renewable throughout the student's undergraduate career (eight semesters or completion of the bachelor's degree, whichever comes first); must be enrolled full-time (minimum of 12 credits per semester) and maintain satisfactory academic progress. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

  • displacementDifferent aid types are displaced differently

    Hood treats loans, work-study, and institutional grant under different rules. The same $5,000 outside award can land against any of them depending on category.

Aid-office script (copy & send)

A binding written answer beats a verbal hallway promise. This script is keyed to Hood'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 Hood 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://www.hood.edu/admission-aid/financial-aid/forms-resources/financial-aid-faqs and the $71,374 cost-of-attendance worksheet.

Which institutional aid types are protected from outside-award displacement, and which can be reduced?

Is the displacement order published anywhere internally, even if not on the public site? Families need this to compare schools.

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 Hood compares across our verified dataset

  • 86 of 751 verified schools in our dataset use mixed displacement.

    Hood is in the modest minority (86 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.

    Hood 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 Hood’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

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