Understanding Your Award

A student at a desk with a laptop

Your financial aid award notification may be the second most important piece of mail you receive from Rhodes.

Once your application has been accepted for admission, financial assistance may become the next determining factor in where you'll attend college. We consider each student’s individual circumstances in putting together aid packages—which frequently consist of a combination of fellowships and scholarships, other grants, work study, and student loans.

Take a look at the sample award notification (PDF). This is what you may expect to receive when our award notifications are posted to your Rhodes portal with your admission decision.

How should I evaluate my financial assistance package?

  • Grants, scholarships, and fellowships do NOT have to be repaid. These are gift aid!
  • All institutional scholarships, fellowships, and grants are renewable for three additional years (four years total) and no additional applications have to be completed after the aid is awarded. See College Catalogue for renewal criteria.
  • You may accept or decline any portion of the aid package.
  • You may decline all or part of the self-help portion (Federal Student Employment and/or loans) without jeopardizing any grant or fellowship offered. For instance, if your parents decide to pay a larger portion of your tuition to avoid a Federal Student Employment obligation, that is their option.
  • If student loans are part of your financial aid package, you may elect to borrow a smaller amount than is listed. Simply change the amount of the loan directly on the BannerWeb. If you need to change the amount after submitting your decision, simply let us know, and we will change it for you. (Send loan change requests from students' Rhodes email account)
  • You cannot deduct required enrollment deposits using the amount of your financial aid package. These must be sent directly to the Bursar's Office when due.
  • Per federal regulations, any financial aid awarded will be divided equally between the fall and spring semesters.
  • All Rhodes, federal, and state grants and loans will be credited directly to your student account.
  • All Student Employment earnings will be paid to you bi-weekly as earned; the earnings are NOT applied to your student account.

Are there circumstances that could change the amount of my award?

  • Any errors we discover while verifying the financial information you report may change the amount of your award.
  • Newly issued federal or state regulations may change your eligibility.
  • Alterations to federal or state programs could change the amount of your award. Assistance received from a source not listed on your most recent Financial Aid Award Notification (including that listed on the BannerWeb) may affect your eligibility for some programs (including, but not limited to, outside scholarships and the like.).
  • Failure to make satisfactory academic progress as stated in the Rhodes College Catalogue or failure to maintain full-time enrollment may change your eligibility for some forms of assistance.
  • Your award may be changed if we discover a clerical or other error on your award, regardless of the reason for the error.
  • If you don't complete all required financial aid applications for federal, state and institutional need-based aid, your award may change.

Wondering how it all fits together?

It is our objective to provide financial aid assistance in an equitable and timely manner. The student's academic performance, accomplishments and financial means calculated by the FAFSA are used to calculate the maximum award available to each student. If you have any questions, please contact our financial aid staff at 1-800-844-5969 or finaid@rhodes.edu. They are friendly, knowledgeable, and ready to help you get a better sense of how Rhodes might be affordable for you.