+1 armydaughter.
It is just my assumption that the transfers occur in April because of 2 reasons.
1. They have to get their numbers set to see where the openings are available.
2. Merit/FA packages tend to be offered in the early spring. I.E. FAFSA for freshmen can't be filed until Jan. 1., which is why school merit/FA come out later on for many schools.
~~~ You are fortunate that you do not need the money to attend your dream school, but there are many that do need the merit/FA to afford their dream school.
It could be that they offer only a 3 yr scholarship, and with the costs of college rising every yr by @10%, they may be able to afford the 20K this yr for tuition, but next yr. when they arrive it maybe 22K, and that tiny amount may be the make or break when it comes to matriculation. Or worse, their financial situation may change within a yr. I.E. loss of a job.
This is probably one time in your life that the govt(DoD) won't be getting into your personal decisions, especially when it comes to your wallet.
P.S. Kinnem is correct make sure they fill out the FAFSA, even if they can afford to send you, it is still best to fill it out just to see if you are eligible for any grants. We did it for our kids because it was only 15 mins out of our life. Of course it was shocking to see what our EFC was, not in a good way.