10 Colleges and Universities Where Merit Aid Is Most Common
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Covering the cost of college can seem overwhelming. Tuition continues to climb, and the price of room and board only adds to a family's financial burden.
But students with strong academic records in high school may have a way of whittling down their college price tag -- through something called merit-based aid.
[Learn more about paying for college.]
Unlike need-based aid, which is tied to a family's income, merit aid is linked to a student's academic potential. The practice of awarding merit-based aid is controversial -- with some arguing that it means less money for the neediest students. For high school achievers, however, it means access to grants and scholarships that don't need to be repaid.
Schools vary significantly in terms of how much and what kind of non-need-based aid they award. Aside from merit aid, schools can also grant non-need-based aid for state residency, alumni affiliation and other criteria.
On average, schools gave non-need-based aid to 12.3 percent of their undergraduate students in 2013-2014, according to data reported by 1,054 ranked schools to U.S. News in an annual survey. That figure was much higher at the 10 schools that awarded non-need-based aid to the highest percentage of students. At those institutions, an average of 46.2 percent of students received aid not tied to financial need.
[Discover ways to chip away at the cost of college.]
Students hoping for the best chance to get non-need-based aid might want to look toward the nation's biggest city. New York City's Cooper Union gave non-need-based aid to the largest percentage of students in 2013-2014, offering 71.8 percent of its students that form of financial assistance. The art- and engineering-focused school previously guaranteed a tuition-free education for all enrolled students, but it ended that practice this fall. Harvard UniversityDartmouth CollegeMiddlebury CollegeWilliams College
At the other end of the spectrum, 195 schools reported giving non-need-based aid to 3 percent or less of their student body. Those schools included highly ranked institutions such as , , and , which give no merit aid at all.
[Explore the 2015 U.S. News Best Value Schools.]
Below are the institutions that awarded merit aid to the highest percentage of undergraduates for the 2013-2014 school year. The percentage includes students who had no financial need and who were awarded non-need-based scholarship or grant aid. Students with financial need who were awarded non-need-based scholarship or grant aid are not included in the percentage. Unranked colleges, which did not submit enough data for U.S. News to calculate a ranking, were not considered for this report.
School name (state) | Percent of students without financial need who were awarded merit aid in 2013-2014 | U.S. News rank and category |
|---|---|---|
71.8% | 2, Regional Colleges (North) | |
48.9% | 69, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
48.4% | 51, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
44.9% | 51, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
42.9% | 3, Regional Universities (South) | |
42.4% | 1, Regional Universities (West) | |
41% | 124, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
40.8% | 41, Regional Universities (North) | |
40.4% | 88, National Universities | |
40.1% | 89, National Liberal Arts Colleges |
Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find merit aid data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed nearly 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2014 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools. The merit aid data above are correct as of Sept. 11, 2014.
Devon Haynie is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering online education. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at dhaynie@usnews.com.
