# Grants vs. scholarships **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grants-vs-scholarships/488433 "2009-03-05T20:13:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grants-vs-scholarships/488433/1 "2009-03-05T20:13:22Z")
What’s the difference between the two? ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grants-vs-scholarships/488433/2 "2009-03-05T22:04:59Z")
Here’s a website that provides a pretty good comparison between the two: [http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/scholarships/difference-between-scholarship-and-grant.html](http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/scholarships/difference-between-scholarship-and-grant.html) In short, it looks like it comes down to: [ul] [li] Scholarships are generally closely tied to education, whereas grants aren’t (necessarily)[/li][li] Grants don’t usually require the recipient to maintain certain qualifications (e.g., a certain GPA; graduating with certain degree; etc.), whereas many scholarships do[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grants-vs-scholarships/488433/3 "2009-03-05T23:14:49Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grants-vs-scholarships/488433/4 "2009-03-06T01:14:27Z")
My experience with 2 kids in college (in California, at least, but I expect it’s similar elsewhere) is that the cost of a year’s education is divided up in to three slices, based on the parents’ and student’s income and assets. There’s the “expected family contribution”, which parents are expected to come up with; the student’s contribution, which might be expected to come from their savings, or from eligibility for work-study; and then the difference between those amounts and the cost of a year’s education, which is covered by the university with grants and loans. A grant goes in that third pile - making up the difference to the total cost. A scholarship counts towards the student’s own contribution, so a student who earns one gets the benefit of holding on to some of their savings, or not having to work. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grants-vs-scholarships/488433/5 "2009-03-06T15:55:21Z")
Interesting, thanks. (Since my readership is mostly nontraditional – i.e., older – students, though, their pie would be in two slices, no parents involved.) ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grants-vs-scholarships/488433/6 "2009-03-06T16:08:34Z")
Its probably not a hard and fast rule, but in my experience a “grant” is a pile of money they give to you, to pay for school, and a “scholarship” is something they give to the school directly (or the school simply wipes off the bill, if the scholarship comes from the school). For example, I have an academic scholarship that covers approximately 80% of my law school tuition. When the scholarship is disbursed each semester, the school simply takes the specified amount off the total bill that I owe - I do not have the option of taking the cash myself. Similarly, if you do service with Americorps, you get a certain amount of money that can _only_ be paid directly to a school. There is no way to spend it on any other thing other than tuition - they will not hand the money over to the student. Compare with a Federal Pell Grant, which can be disbursed directly to the student.