Financial Aid Scholarship Procedures

Need-based undergraduate scholarships to tax dependent children of Foreign Service employees (active duty, retired or deceased) range from $3,000 to $5,000. Approximately 50 awards totaling $260,000 are made each year.  Eligible applicants include entering Foreign Service freshman and undergraduate college students in their sophomore and junior years. Funding of these awards come from AFSA annual and perpetual scholarships, the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW), and DACOR Bacon House Foundations, trusts, and a withdrawal from AFSA’s Scholarship Fund endowment.  

In addition to submitting an application and transcripts, applicants must show financial need in order to be eligible for AFSA Financial Aid scholarships. A family completes the College Scholarship Service (CSS) PROFILE. The PROFILE output, called the Financial Needs Analysis Report (FNAR) is then available to AFSA. The AFSA Scholarship Fund's CSS PROFILE code is 0540.  In divorced families, the non-custodial spouse completes the two-page CSS PROFILE “Non-Custodial Parent Statement” obtained from AFSA by emailing scholar2@afsa.org to request it.  AFSA fully believes that both parents need to provide support for their child’s higher-level education. 

The FNAR contains financial information on the family and applicant from the prior year based on the responses submitted on the CSS PROFILE. AFSA’s aid decisions are based on the need of the family, the amount of total funds available to award that year, and the number of applicants. Some items AFSA takes into consideration are the family’s and student’s income and assets, the number of children under 23 that are enrolled in college full time, high medical bills, whether the family owns or rents a home, investment property owned, etc. The AFSA applicants are ranked according to need. Students with greater need receive higher awards. AFSA Financial Aid awards are sent directly to the applicant's college or university. Awards are disbursed in two installments: August and December to coincide with the traditional fall and spring college semesters. AFSA scholarships are awarded to reduce loan and work study burdens. AFSA's policy does not allow its awards to reduce school grants or school scholarships. 

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