If you win a scholarship, will Stonehill lower other aid?
We checked the school’s published rule so you can decide whether an outside award is worth your time.
Verified Jul 20262 months ago
The short answer
The scholarship may reduce loans before school aid.
Outside/private scholarships are applied loan-first: students must report all private scholarships, and Stonehill reduces SEOG/Perkins-MASS NIL loans, then Federal Work-Study, then the Federal Direct Loan, in that order. Stonehill's own gift aid is protected and is only cut if total gift aid exceeds federal need or billed costs (a billed-cost / need cap overlay).
What to do
Use this rule to focus on awards that will lower what your family pays.
See the dollar example, school comparisons, and sources
Published policy type
Loan-first displacement
Stonehill displaces loans first, then work-study. In plain dollar terms, that means a $5,000 outside award shrinks the federal loan offer by $5,000 before any grant is touched.
stonehill.edu publishes the $82,460 cost-of-attendance worksheet the math is run against.
The math: a $5,000 outside scholarship at Stonehill
Setup
You've received Stonehill's institutional merit aid plus the federal loan offer in your award letter. You win a $5,000 outside scholarship.
What Stonehill does
Stonehill reduces your loan offer first, then work-study, before touching institutional grants. The $5,000 swap is effectively cash to the family: fewer loans now, less debt at graduation.
Family takeaway
Loan-first displacement is the most family-friendly treatment. Outside scholarships translate dollar-for-dollar into reduced borrowing.
Schools with the same policy
These schools also use loan-first displacement for outside scholarships. The same dollar math above applies at each.
Planning to commute to save money without expecting the merit award to shrink.
A change in residency status from resident to commuter reduces the merit scholarship by approximately 20%, because cost of attendance is one of the factors that sizes the award.
Budgeting only to tuition ($60,610) or the billed total ($79,960).
The 2026-2027 estimated cost of attendance for a resident is $82,460; on top of billed tuition, general service fee, and food & housing, it adds indirect costs (books ~$893, personal ~$867, transportation ~$675, federal loan fees ~$65).
Displacement questions families ask
If I win an outside scholarship, does it cut my Stonehill merit money?
Not first. You must report all private scholarships. If an adjustment is required, Stonehill reduces SEOG/Perkins-NIL loans, then Federal Work-Study, then the Federal Direct Loan, in that order. Your Stonehill gift aid is only reduced if your total gift aid exceeds federal need or billed costs.
Aid-office script (copy & send)
The displacement rule is only binding when it's in writing. This script asks Stonehill's aid office the specific question that matters for loan-first displacement.
Subject: Outside-scholarship treatment question, fall applicant
Dear Stonehill 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.stonehill.edu/offices-and-services/financial-aid/undergraduate-students/how-to-apply-for-financial-aid/award-guidelines/ and the $82,460 cost-of-attendance worksheet.
If I win a $5,000 outside scholarship after the package is built, can you confirm it reduces my Direct Loan offer first, before any institutional grant is touched?
If the loan offer is smaller than the outside award, what is the next aid type that gets reduced (work-study, institutional grant, other)?
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 Stonehill compares across our verified dataset
145 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.
Stonehill is in a recognizable cluster (145 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Stonehill is one of them. The cohort minority (84 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 Stonehill’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
