<p>Even with the shift toward more need-based aid, GW is still in the Top 10 among 100 larger schools in average merit awards, according to a list printed in the paper's Education Life section today.</p>
<p>A sortable list of more than 600 schools, including many smaller ones, is online, with a link to a story about merit aid:</p>
<p>Colleges</a> and Universities That Award Merit Aid - Graphic - NYTimes.com</p>
<p>Maybe the way I’m sorting the the list is wrong, but that page has GWU as the most expensive school, not in the top 10 for merit aid, not even close to the biggest school, and not even close to having the biggest percentage of students receiving aid.</p>
<p>Did you use a list other than the one you posted?</p>
<p>Yes, the list of the Top 100 of the larger schools was only printed in the newspaper. It was not online. GW was #7. And yes, as the article explained, the largest awards tended to come from schools with the highest costs of attendance, like Miami, Tulane, USC etc.</p>
<p>The precede to that printed top 100 list said it was filtered to include only schools that had at least 2,000 undergraduates, gave merit aid to at least 10% of freshman, and gave awards that averaged $5,000 apiece. The intent seems to have been to pinpoint the schools where students would have the best chances to qualify for a reasonable amount of aid.</p>
<p>The sortable chart on nytimes.com lists all of the 600+ merit-aid schools in the College Board database, including many tiny colleges and ones that give substantial awards to only a tiny portion of their students or a smidgen of aid to nearly all their freshman.</p>
<p>GW is VERY, VERY weak in merit aid.</p>
<p>Seriously, if you’re well-performing but middle class, you’re screwed.</p>
<p>“National Merit Finalists, National Achievement Finalists, and National Hispanic Scholars who apply to GW and meet the following eligibility requirements are considered for Presidential Academic Scholarships in the amount of $15,000 per year.”</p>
<p>LOL. $15,000 out of $50,000 if you’re a National Merit Finalist… and most people I know who were middle class didn’t even get that.</p>
<p>We punish the high-achieving middle class students by denying them financial aid. </p>
<p>You can see what scholarships and merit aid there is at:</p>
<p>[Scholarship</a> and Merit Awards | Scholarships | Paying for College | Undergraduate Admissions | Apply | The George Washington University](<a href=“http://www.gwu.edu/apply/undergraduateadmissions/payingforcollege/scholarships]Scholarship”>http://www.gwu.edu/apply/undergraduateadmissions/payingforcollege/scholarships)</p>