Colleges that meet 100% of need?

<p>I know there's some and I did a bit of googling, but I was wondering if someone had an exhaustive list. And I know that there's some debate as to what that that actually means (whether or not loans are used and whether or not the school requires students have some sort of contribution each year - meaning a 0 EFC is impossible). I would prefer a slightly too big list - even if a school expects students to contribute 2k a year, it still has to give a substantial aid package to cover costs that can sometimes be around 50k a year. I want to systematically go through and figure out the differences between one program and the next and make as many people aware of these programs as possible, since my lack of awareness made me not even pursue private colleges my senior year due to the false notion they'd be too expensive.</p>

<p>USWNR has this list, but Vanderbilt isn't on it and their need program is amazing!</p>

<p>Schools</a> That Say They Meet Full Need - US News and World Report</p>

<p>That article was posted 9/2008 so maybe Vanderbilt wasn't on the list yet since their expanded aid program starts this fall 2009...</p>

<p>Do a search in the financial aid forum. This has been answered many times.</p>

<p>An exceptionally good website:</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>These are schools that appear to meet 100% of need for all students. (There are many others that meet 100% of need for some students.) Also, there are schools that meet 99% of need for all students (e.g. Beloit), but they’re not on this list.</p>

<p>Adrian College Adrian MI
Amherst College Amherst MA
Barnard College New York NY
Bates College Lewiston ME
Boston College Chestnut Hill MA
Bowdoin College Brunswick ME
Brown University Providence RI
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr PA
California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA
Campbell University Buies Creek NC
Carleton College Northfield MN
Carroll University (Wisconsin) Waukesha WI
Chapman University Orange CA
University of Chicago Chicago IL
Claremont McKenna College Claremont CA
Colby College Waterville ME
Colgate University Hamilton NY
Columbia University New York NY
Connecticut College New London CT
Cornell University Ithaca NY
Dartmouth College Hanover NH
Davidson College Davidson NC
Duke University Durham NC
Emory University Atlanta GA
Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster PA
Georgetown University Washington DC
Gettysburg College Gettysburg PA
Grinnell College Grinnell IA
Hamilton College - NY Clinton NY
Harvard University Cambridge MA
Harvey Mudd College Claremont CA
Haverford College Haverford PA
College of the Holy Cross Worcester MA
Lafayette College Easton PA
Lake Forest College Lake Forest IL
Macalester College St. Paul MN
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge MA
Middlebury College Middlebury VT
Mount Holyoke College South Hadley MA
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill NC
Northwestern University Evanston IL
University of Notre Dame Notre Dame IN
Oberlin College Oberlin OH
Occidental College Los Angeles CA
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA
Pitzer College Claremont CA
Pomona College Claremont CA
Princeton University Princeton NJ
Reed College Portland OR
Rice University Houston TX
University of Richmond Richmond VA
University of Rochester Rochester NY
Salem College Winston-Salem NC
Scripps College Claremont CA
Smith College Northampton MA
St. Olaf College Northfield MN
Stanford University Stanford CA
Swarthmore College Swarthmore PA
Thomas Aquinas College Santa Paula CA
Trinity College Hartford CT
Tufts University Medford MA
Vanderbilt University Nashville TN
Vassar College Poughkeepsie NY
University of Virginia Charlottesville VA
Wabash College Crawfordsville IN
Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis MO
Wellesley College Wellesley MA
Wesleyan University Middletown CT
Williams College Williamstown MA
Yale University New Haven CT</p>

<p>You also want to know “how” they meet 100% of need. Giving you $25,000/yr of loans is not much help.</p>

<p>“since my lack of awareness made me not even pursue private colleges my senior year due to the false notion they’d be too expensive.”</p>

<p>If you’ll be a transfer student, keep in mind that some colleges don’t meet the full financial need of transfer students, so check the financial aid and transfer web pages of colleges that interest you.</p>

<p>Don’t forget, this is 100% of what they say is your need. Will vary widely from school to school.</p>

<p>And, not all 100% need schools are no loans schools (e.g., Georgetown).</p>

<p>“You also want to know “how” they meet 100% of need. Giving you $25,000/yr of loans is not much help.”</p>

<p>OD, are these $25,000 student loans or parent loans? Meeting 100% of need can legitimately include only student loans, usually modest, $5000 per year or less. Such loans are aid since they are automatic, arranged by the school and help allow attendance. Schools arrange such loans because it allows them to support perhaps 10% more needy students.</p>

<p>Parent loans are a common part of how families pay their EFC.</p>

<p>We should note here (as a warning) schools that consider $25,000 loans to be student loans.</p>

<p>Actually a school can give you a parent loan for the full cost of attendance and that will be considered as meeting your need.</p>

<p>sybbie, which schools have done that? We need to make a list as a warning to students and families.</p>

<p>Sybbie - that is if your EFC is greater than the costs of the school.</p>

<p>Need is what is needed above your EFC. Normally a school that meets 100% need will start with their total cost and then subtract some student loans, subtract your EFC (which the parent is responsible in paying) and then meet the rest of the need with a “scholarship” or “grant” of some sort.</p>

<p>How a person paying for their EFC is their choice. It is the need ABOVE the EFC and Student Loans that a University that meets 100% need will normally give grant money for.</p>

<p>I don’t think some of those schools still meet 100% need - because of the sharp declines in endowments. Tufts I believe is NOT a 100% need college anymore as well as University of Rochester.</p>

<p>And transfers have to be particularly careful. I know that Northwestern typically does not meet 100% need for transfers and sometimes does not give any aid the first year of the transfer.</p>

<p>I would have said that schools cannot give parent loans, because parents must qualify for such loans. Are there indeed parent loans given by schools for which parents are not required to qualify? It’s not aid if qualification is necessary.</p>

<p>My son applied to some of those schools and got different packages from all and the one with the best, wasn’t listed. I think it does vary a bit, school to school, what “need” is for you.</p>

<p>what we tend to forget is that when it comes to financial aid, loans (stafford, perkins and plus loans ) are considered FA.</p>

<p>Loans are definitely considered financial aid. So if your financial “need” is say, $30,000, the school can offer you $30,000 in loans. They have therefore met 100% of you need. Above and beyond that, you need to come up with your EFC. The school can meet your need with loans. Then, if you can’t afford to pay your EFC, you’ll have to take out more loans.</p>

<p>^ But are these student loans or parent loans? Again, which schools offer these huge loans? Can somebody name one?</p>

<p>I do not think that is the spirit if the op question. I think most of the schools on that list will try and at least meet some if not all of the need. Unfortunately probably 90% of the universities out there do not meet 100% need and do not even try to . </p>

<p>My son applied to 13 schools - all pretty competive - not HYPSM - but competitive schools, so we got varying packages. Most schools tried to at least meet some of the need and the schools that did actually say that they met 100% need did so. The worst package came form our state school - and they do not say they meet 100% need, so I wasn’t expecting much. All of the others though were within 10,000 of each other, with the best coming from the highest ranked school he was accepted to and also a school that said they would meet 100% need. And they did just that. They met up to exactly my EFC. Other than the almost mandatory student loans all colleges use for FA, and my EFC - the rest was a “grant”.</p>

<p>No, parent loans are not considered meeting need. Nor are alternative loans.</p>

<p>The Common Data Set is the format colleges use to report on data such as what percentage of need they meet on average. Section H of the Common Data Set covers financial aid. Here is the wording for some of the relevant questions:</p>

<p>“h) Number of students in line d whose need was fully met (exclude PLUS loans, unsubsidized loans, and private alternative loans)”</p>

<p>“i) On average, the percentage of need that was met of students who were awarded any need-based aid. Exclude any aid that was awarded in excess of need as well as any resources that were awarded to replace EFC (PLUS loans, unsubsidized loans, and private alternative loans)”</p>

<p>“l) Average need-based self-help award (excluding PLUS loans, unsubsidized loans, and private alternative loans) of those in line f”</p>

<p>“m) Average need-based loan (excluding PLUS loans, unsubsidized loans, and private alternative loans) of those in line f who were awarded a need-based loan”</p>

<p>Good post Calreader</p>