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Yesterday I posted a video explaining merit-based aid. But a large portion of financial aid is awarded to students who need help in paying for a college education. In explaining how need-based aid is awarded, it’s helpful to provide concrete examples. This short video explains how need-based is awarded at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Why Some Elite Schools Don’t Offer Merit Aid
Understanding which schools offer merit-based aid—and which don’t—is essential for building a financially strategic college list. Sarah Farbman explains: “Some colleges will not give any merit-based aid. They just don’t do it. And those are typically sort of the bigger names. The Yale, Stanford, Harvards of the world, they’re not giving merit-based aid because they do not need to employ that as a recruitment strategy.”
She continues: “You could be the best student in the entire universe. You are not going to get a merit-based scholarship at Yale. They don’t do it.” These schools focus exclusively on need-based aid, meeting the full demonstrated financial need of admitted students but offering no discounts based on academic achievement.
However, as Jamie Berger notes, working with a knowledgeable counselor “might save you $20,000 a year by getting more merit aid at a college. You can’t guarantee it, but it might—very often does.” The key is identifying institutions that use merit aid as a recruitment tool. Sarah Farbman explains: “There are many, many high-quality public and private institutions in the US that regularly use that type of recruitment tool. So they might, let’s say their tuition is $60,000 a year at a given institution, they might regularly offer students $20,000-$35,000 off. So the sticker price is $60K for tuition, but most students at that school are actually paying closer to $30,000 a year.”
For families seeking merit aid, the most important strategy is building the right college list that includes these generous institutions.
About Great College Advice: Since 2007, the expert team at Great College Advice has provided comprehensive admissions guidance to thousands of students across the United States and more than 45 countries. Our six counselors bring over 100 combined years of college admissions experience. Great College Advice also runs College Admissions Experts, one of the most active Facebook groups for college-bound families, with over 100,000 members.
