<p>Whether your daughter will receive need based aid will depend on if the school offers any need based aid out of their own institutional funds. A lot of state universities do not have any institutional money to offer as need based aid and only offer federal (or State money if the state offers any). The State U my daughter attends does not offer any institutional need based aid, only federal or a small State grant. An EFC of 12,000 is too high for any federal grant aid. The maximum EFC for the main federal grant, the Pell, is 4617. In our state 12,000 would also be too high for the small state grant as well (it is $1000 and requires a 1700 or less EFC). </p>
<p>Whether a 26 ACT would qualify for any merit aid depends on each school. At the large State U my daughter attends a 26 ACT would be eligible for $1000-2,000. The large merit awards require ACT scores in the 32+ ACT range. The smaller regional State Us or community colleges that have lower averages for incoming students might offer a little more. You would need to check the scholarships offered by the schools.</p>
<p>Hopefully one of her other schools may offer something in the way of institutional aid, or her stats will be higher for them and make her eligible for some merit aid. Good luck.</p>