ugh, my previous post was rather obtuse. I should have been more clear.
BC meets full need as they define it (like all colleges). BC is also need blind for admissions. In contrast, Villanova (just as an example, not to pick on them), does not meet full financial need. 'Nova does offer merit aid, however, to very high stat applicants.
Thus, an average lower income student would receive a wonderful aid package at BC, including up to a ‘full ride’, but since Villanova does not meet full need, that same low income student would have a ~20% financial gap requiring private loans. In contrast, a top middle class student with a lot of home equity may receive little to no aid at BC, but would be eligible for merit at Villanova. (ignoring the ~12 Presidential scholarships that BC awards)
Essentially, BC is caught in the middle. Nearly all of the colleges ranked ahead of BC meet full need, whereas the colleges ranked below BC offer merit aid instead of meeting full need. Moreover, HYPSM et al are extremely generous with financial aid, as they cap the amount of home equity used in the calculation of need. BC appears to use full equity in its calculation of need, as do most/all colleges ranked below it.
Definitely run the NPC.
In answer to your question, AL, the Profile need formula counts assets towards need, and assumes that 5.6% of assets – including home equity – are available to pay tuition. In other words, 5.6% of net home equity (value less any mortgage) is considered for tuition. For comparison, at HYPSM, the amount of home equity used for financial need purposes is zero.
Two of my kids applied to BC EA and were accepted. No financial aid in the picture. But those kids accepted there who did apply for financial aid tended to find their packages lacking compared to other schools guaranteeing full need. This was back in the early and mid 2000s. The complaint was not just home equity— a lot of the full need met schools count home equity, most PROFILE schools do though some might cap it lower than others. The complaint so heard back then was that they also took qualified retirement funds into account. In my area , where housing prices are very high, without a cap, anyone who has s house from days of old, of inherited one, when they were not do expensive, gets blown out of the water on home equity. That BC also looked at qualified plan assets knocked a number of folks out of the running.
As for merit awards, it isn’t even close. I know NO ONE., not a single person who got one of BC’s scholarships. and all the top kids in my circle apply to BC. Not even the handful who got into HPY got merit from BC.
The one girl I do know who got a BC award is NOT from our area but the Midwest. Great person good grades and test scores, nice resume but didnt hold a candle to many BC hopefuls in my area. Clearly BC feels no need to pay for NY Catholic school kids. They get enough of them for free.
Villanova is a popular choice in this area too and I know a number of kids who get merit money from there each year. One of mine was in the running but withdrew his acceptance when he got accepted to his ED school. No idea if he’d have actually gotten $$$s.
^^Stanford announced last December that they were dropping Home Equity. And you are correct about Yale, at least officially. When presented with competing offers from Harvard or Princeton – neither of which use home equity in their calcs – Yale finaid usually finds a way to increase their offer, sometimes substantially. (Not matching of course. wink-wink)