As colleges continue to work at shaping, rather than simply filling, their classes, money has become a means to enrolling the particular students that an institution most wants. This phenomenon is called preferential packaging. Preferential Packaging Preferential packaging means, simply, that the students a college would most like to enroll will receive the most advantageous financial aid packages. Loans must be repaid, usually beginning six months after graduation from college. Work Colleges and the government both fund on-campus work programs.
Colleges have discretion over how much grant aid they choose to award a student.
So, a college can award a bigger grant to a student they would really like to enroll. In some cases, the total of grant from the college and the loans the student is entitled to may exceed the student's financial need. In addition, students at the top of the applicant pool may receive Merit Scholarships designed to reward their outstanding high school record and further entice them to the college. Students who are admitted but in the bottom half of the admitted student group, will probably receive a package that is built from self-help up. That is, the college will award the student's entitlements and work first and then see how much grant it will take to reach the student's full need.