I just saw this article online with a list of some colleges with good financial aid programs for middle class families. Are there any other colleges with similar programs??
http://news.bitofnews.com/12-elite-universities-where-middle-class-kids-dont-need-to-pay-any-tuition/
No surprises on this list. Top 10-ish colleges all, brutally difficult to get into, big endowments that allow them to offer generous need based aid.
There are quite a few colleges that say they meet need, but need is defined in their terms. To see a list, Google “meets need colleges” and look at the U.S. News link that pops up. Some come close that aren’t on that list; for example, Dickinson meets 96% of need.
For each of those colleges that interest you, go to the college website and run their Net Price Calculator to get an idea of what you would be expected to pay.
@gray7time If you’re looking for yourself, you have to realize that you have a situation that these aid promises don’t really apply.
Your parents are divorced and your step-mom has a high income, but won’t help pay. FA offices likely won’t consider your FA app as one from a “middle class family.”
That is not a list of good, that is a list of great, the top of the top, that is why it says ‘elite’. Check the pages of any other ‘elite’ and you will see. Those are universities, but there are also LAC elites with that kind of funding, see Amherst.
I’m not sure if this helps but try the College Match function on the first page of this site. There is an option to pick colleges where your stats are on the higher end to increase the chance for aid. They might not be ones you heard of. I don’t know the details but I have neighbors who attended off the wall schools and our neighborhood is above middle class. The parents said the kids got lots of aid. They are public universities so it’s not one of those situations where the tuition is $50k and the scholarship is $25k.
We had done College Match before last night. The schools that my son considers as safeties show up as 100% matches so IMO it is right on the money!
Students, parents, schools, and FA all may have varying definitions of what truly is ‘middle class’ and a middle class income based on family size, etc.