Soo many schools can’t keep them straight - what’s WSU?
Likely Washington State University.
https://financialaid.wsu.edu/nonresident-scholarships/
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Unfortunately, UMaine has decided to cut its NMSF/NMF scholarship offer starting with the 2024-25 incoming class so that it only covers tuition & fees. That basically cuts the award by 50%. It’s very disappointing.
My child got in NMF we choose BU before March 1st and didn’t get any merit $0.00.
“High school seniors who have been chosen as National Merit finalists, and are offered admission to Boston University, will be considered for a four-year, $25,000 tuition BU Presidential Scholarship.” not guaranteed so we didn’t bother asking anything.
Thanks sucks. They really should be more upfront and honest with that and not say on their website that they have a “national merit finalist scholarship” if it is actually the same thing as the presidential scholarship. It is false advertising and really does a dis-service to the kiddos. Did you or your kid ask about it? Or just go somewhere else? It leaves a bad taste in my mouth re: BU.
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We went somewhere, we didn’t talk to BU. We were disappointed with BU.
We’re considering tours of the schools that offer the NMF scholarships automatically. My 2025 grad will likely make NMSF. For those that have taken advantage at the schools mentioned…did you see any scholarships comparable at other schools during the college search process? The full cost of attendance scholarships are really getting our attention.
Not related but other schools have full tuition or COA - although not automatically. Yesterday someone mentioned Lehigh and Lafayette. I know others too - but they are few. UNC, UVA etc.
SMU has its presidential and W&L its Johnson which they give to 10% of its class - 40+ a year.
Check any school of interest but know that getting a full COA will be harder than a NMF.
Schools like Troy, Prarie View and more regional or HBCU may have stat driven COAs.
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From what I’ve heard Texas AM usually gives scholarship that come pretty close to a full ride to NM kids. It is not automatic or guaranteed.
One word of advice it to closely look at scholarship offers, some FULL TUITION scholarships do not included FEES some of those fees can be even more than the tuition! Oldest was NM at OU and the fees were just crazy! Two younger ones are NM at UT Dallas and thankfully they include all fees (other than the parking fee if you have a car).
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This was posted by @FoshayMN in another NM thread.
Just saw Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA offers up to full tuition for NMF. I ran the NPC with my kids’ stats and it awarded full tuition. Not a fit for us because he doesn’t want an LAC, but if you do it’s a solid one with a good reputation in the Midwest at least.
https://www.coe.edu/admission/first-year-students/scholarships-awards
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Be sure to google the large state schools near where you live.
I am not aware of other schools not already mentioned here that offer full cost of attendance awards, but there are some “full-tuition” awards available depending on location.
For instance, University of North Dakota offers one to finalists or semifinalists from North Dakota or Minnesota:
Freshmen Admissions | Undergraduate | University of North Dakota.
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Though you should always be careful of being taken in by eye-popping scholarship amounts.
Washington & Lee’s undergrad COA is an even $87,000. A $40k scholarship still leaves $47k to pay.
OTOH, if you went to, say, Mississippi State and paid full freight with no scholarships (unlikely if your kid is likely NMSF, but for comparison), the undergrad OOS COA is $38,873–nearly $10k less than W&L with the scholarship.
Sometimes—no, actually most of the time—I’m convinced that one of the reasons that so many colleges place their sticker price so high is so that they can dazzle applicants with big-sounding scholarships, when the important thing isn’t the scholarship, it’s the out of pocket cost.
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I believe they meant W&L gives scholarships to 40+ students. The Johnson scholarship is a full cost of attendance award.
They also have several others. Mine got one that covered tuition - and the scholarship increased as the tuition increased over the 4 years.
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This has been dogma in the retail industry going back to the late 1970’s. Buy two jars of pasta sauce, get one free.
No, you didn’t get ANYTHING free.
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Ah, but if you can use a $1 coupon on all three, you can come mighty close.
Signed, Extreme Couponer.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
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No 40 is the quantity. It’s actually 44 but maybe a few decline. . It’s full COA and stipend on top.
Like @ClassicMom98 said, they also have full tuition - for everything from being Jewish to certain geographies. My daughter interviewed for one but alas didn’t get. Just entrance with no aid 
congrats to @ClassicMom98 on the great get.
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Thanks, but he graduated a few years ago. The price was much lower then! Still well out of our league, so he was very fortunate. It was a good 4 years for him
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Here is a link to the University of Oklahoma’s NMF award, for purposes of comparison: National Merit Finalist Scholarship
Beautiful campus too !! Overlooked. You don’t hear about it much on here.
Yep, sort of a blind spot.