Livingstone· Scholarship Stacking

Stacking Outside Scholarships at Livingstone

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

Verified Jul 202625 days ago· COWORK

The verdict

Cost-of-attendance cap

At Livingstone, 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 Livingstone

Outside scholarships must be reported and the aid package may be adjusted; the only displacement trigger Livingstone states explicitly is total aid exceeding cost of attendance, listed among other eligibility factors.

Verified policy language (2026-07-02): Report any additional resources you expect to receive, including scholarships from outside sources. These outside resources must be taken into account when determining your eligibility for aid and your aid package may be adjusted as a result. ... There are many reasons why you may become ineligible for funds. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to: Your total award package including outside assistance exceeds your "cost of attendance" (the estimated total of tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies, transportation, and personal expenses for the award period, as determined by the Office of Financial Aid)

Source: https://livingstone.edu/financial-aid/

Aid-office script (copy & send)

A binding written answer beats a verbal hallway promise. This script is keyed to Livingstone'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 Livingstone 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://livingstone.edu/financial-aid/.

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 Livingstone compares across our verified dataset

241 of 750 verified schools in our dataset use cost-of-attendance cap displacement.
Livingstone is in a recognizable cluster (241 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
668 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Livingstone 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 Livingstone’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.