A number of both local and national organizations offer outside scholarships to continuing students throughout the year, some of these regardless of need. Those relevant to undergraduate students will also be posted on the Caltech Financial Aid Office website. Such scholarships can also often be found with the help of a search service. We recommend College Board Fund Finder (bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search); CollegeNet Mach 25 (scholarshipopportunity.org/collegenetmach-25/); FastWeb (fastweb.com); Scholarship Guidance (scholarshipguidance.com/); Scholarship Opportunities for Women (affordablecollegesonline.org/womens-guide-paying-for-college/); Scholarship Opportunities for Minority Students (affordablecollegesonline.org/financial-aid-for-minorities/); and Scholarship Search by Sallie Mae (salliemae.com/college-planning/tools/scholarship-search/?dtd_cell=SMPLSHDCOTDOBOOTOTHOTHRR010001). (For more information on scholarship services, go to finaid.org). You may also visit the Financial Aid website at finaid.caltech.edu/TypesofAid/OS/list for a list of outside scholarships.
Outside scholarships acquired by students are considered, by federal regulation, to be a resource available during the academic year. Caltech’s policy is to use outside scholarships to replace the student employment and/or loan components of the financial aid package. For entering students, we generally replace student employment first. For continuing students, loans are generally replaced first. Only if the total outside scholarships exceeds the student employment and/or loan that would have been included in your financial aid package will it be necessary to reduce Caltech scholarship. In general, a student’s total financial aid, including outside assistance, cannot exceed their demonstrated financial need. Under no circumstances can a student’s total financial aid, exceed their estimated cost of attendance.