<p>My D is a Junior in HS looking at top schools, not Ivy League except UPenn. My son got good FA from Penn, not great. Which give the best FA? I know it depends on many factors...</p>
<p>I’m assuming you are talking about need based aid. If so…Stanford, MIT, Williams, Amherst, Davidson…there are a bunch of schools that meet full need for all students…somewhere around 50.</p>
<p>Also, if your junior has competitive stats for one of these highly competitive and generous schools, she should also look for schools with guaranteed merit awards.</p>
<p>The women’s colleges also are pretty good with aid. If she’s a viable candidate for Penn, she should look at Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mt Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesley.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt. There is a list here somewhere - do a search - it should be easy to find.</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> That Claim to Meet the Full Financial Needs of Students - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/02/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-the-full-financial-needs-of-students]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/02/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-the-full-financial-needs-of-students)</p>
<p>For a list of colleges that don’t include loans in their financial aid packages for lower income students:</p>
<p>[Project</a> on Student Debt: Financial Aid Pledges](<a href=“http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php]Project”>http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php)</p>
<p>There are lists of schools that tend to give the best aid or the most aid, but with many things the question you are probably asking is which schools would give YOU the most/best aid. That becomes tricky. I’ve seen some top rate packages from the schools with the reps of being the stingiest. You have a situation that is heavily counted by a school that gives generous aid, and you may not get much. Folks with their own businesses, having heavy equity in their homes, having other kids with assets in their accounts, having a NCP situation, have found schools that may look at things a bit differently from others and get a better package. Because schools do not give out their methodology, it’s nigh impossible to figure out where you would do the best, and it can come down to simply the school that wants your kid the most. </p>
<p>Schools that throw in the full Federal self help such as the Stafford loans and work study basically close up that option for the student to use those venues to pay some of the EFC since some or all of that money is used up in the aid package. Nice to get work study, but that means what the student earns from those hours go towards EFC when the time spent working and the money earned could help the family EFC. ALso schools vary on what their required student contribution amount are and how they treat outside scholarships. Some schools, like JHU let the students keep all of their outside awards. Some schools also will look at any student account money and keep it in system and require a percentage of it all through the years (UChicago)… </p>
<p>The problem with any list is that things change. A school that has a policy can close it up the following year so it’s something that has to be checked right at the source.</p>
<p>S1 was an '07 HS grad. I thought Duke and Vandy were extremely generous.</p>
<p>Rice University as well (although I’m partially biased as I’ll be going there next year!).</p>
<p>William & Mary met full need for my D. This was aid not any merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Here’s Kiplingers most recent ‘best values in LAC’s’ - [10</a> Best Values in Liberal Arts Colleges 2012-13-Kiplinger](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/college/T014-S001-10-best-values-in-liberal-arts-colleges-2012-13/index.html]10”>http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/college/T014-S001-10-best-values-in-liberal-arts-colleges-2012-13/index.html)</p>
<p>They may have them for other types of schools, but my D is looking LAC, so this is the one I have handy.</p>