<p>That link was VERY useful. Thanks college_ruled! However, most of those institutions are too much of a reach for my son. I'm looking for the same sort of information except for the next lower tier of schools. I'm specifically looking for information about LACs with strong science programs. My son, a white male, has good test scores (800-r, 740-m) but is only in the top 20% of his very large, very competitive high school. He is looking to major in Chemistry or Biochemistry. I'd love any advice you guys could offer. Thanks.</p>
<p>You might want to do a search here for a thread by momfromtexas. It’s about 7 or 8 years old now…but the STRATEGIES she used to find full rides for her two kids are still very appropriate.</p>
<p>“Below is a list of the 63 schools out of more than 1,700 surveyed by U.S. News that claim to meet their students’ full financial need. All schools listed report that they meet 100 percent of need for all students. Several schools including Vanderbilt University and Johns Hopkins University were a few percentage points shy of meeting full need, but were not included in the table.”</p>
<p>There are many very good LAC’s in this list that might be what you are looking for…</p>
<p>dukedad,
Thanks so much! That is what I was looking for. However, I think most of those schools are still too much of a reach for my s. Do you know if the percent of need met w/o loans is available for all of schools listed in the paid version of the report?</p>
<p>I’m not sure about the paid version of the report, but I don’t think you need it. The College Board has great information on financial aid stats, need met, average loans, average indebtedness at graduation, etc. </p>
<p>Just go to Collegeboard.com and plug any school into the search box, then click on “cost and financial aid”. There is a wealth of good information here. Since Grinnell was mentioned above, I’ll use it as an example. Here’s what you’ll find on the college board site for Grinnell:</p>
<p>Financial Aid Statistics
Full-time freshman enrollment: 415
Number who applied for need-based aid: 350
Number who were judged to have need: 305
Number who were offered aid: 305
Number who had full need met: 305
Average percent of need met: 100%
Average financial aid package: $36,233
Average need-based loan: $3,037
Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $30,577
Average non-need based aid: $10,145
Average indebtedness at graduation: $18,578</p>
<p>Important things to note here: they meet 100% of demonstrated need (305 out of 305), average FA package is $36,000. Note that they also give merit aid - an average of $10K per student.</p>
<p>Some colleges meet full demonstrated need for some, but not all students. It’s called preferential packaging, in which the most desirable students (in their eyes) get the best financial aid packages. The trick would be to find schools in which your son would be one of the most desired students. </p>
<p>If you google ‘“college name” + “common data set,”’ you will get more financial aid data. Also note the acceptance rates for male versus female applicants, because at many coed LACs the acceptance rates is higher for guys.</p>
<p>* I’m looking for the same sort of information except for the next lower tier of schools. I’m specifically looking for information about LACs with strong science programs. My son, a white male, has good test scores (800-r, 740-m) but is only in the top 20% of his very large, very competitive high school. He is looking to major in Chemistry or Biochemistry. I’d love any advice you guys could offer. Thanks. *</p>
<p>Do you know if you’d qualify for much aid after looking at your income, assets, investments, home equity? </p>
<p>Do you know how much these schools would expect your family to pay? Can you afford to pay that expected amount? </p>
<p>Do you know what your FAFSA EFC will be? Or what your CSS Profile family contribution will be?</p>
<p>most schools will put loans in the FA package.</p>
<p>Does your child have a non-custodial parent? If so, many schools that meet need will also consider the NCPs income (and the income of any new spouse).</p>
<p>Also…keep in mind that one reason why the top schools are hard to get into is because they “meet need,” so they get a ton of apps. The lower you go, the less likely they will give great aid. ** Giving great aid makes a school VERY popular and hard to get into.** </p>
<p>What kind of school is your son interested in? Would he like a LAC or would he want a university?</p>
<p>What is your son’s career interest…research or medicine or what?</p>
<p>Your son’s stats are high enough for merit scholarships at some schools.</p>
<p>the issue isn’t finding a place that will meet demonstrated need. It’s finding a place which will have a reasonable definition of demonstrated need</p>
<p>Wow! Thanks for all of the insightful comments. You guys are very knowledgeable and helpful. So many comments to respond to…</p>
<p>thumper1 I appreciate the info about momfromtexas’ thread about full ride scholarships. That is a long thread to wade through. I’ve just started looking at it. I want to look more at the strategy she used to find the best financial aid. My interests are a little different from her’s. I’m not looking for or expecting a “full ride”, but rather just trying to find the right balance of financial aid package with the least amount of loans and the “best” college for him. </p>
<p>dukedad. Thanks for the detailed listing and analysis of the info from collegeboard. I didn’t realize it was that specific about financial aid. I’ve looked up several colleges and can see the differences among them. It is helpful to compare them regards to “average percentage of need met” and “number who had full need met” as well as the distribution between scholarships/grants and loans/jobs. </p>
<p>I’m specifically looking for colleges that give more financial aid that is scholarship/grant-based relative to what they give loan-based. The smaller and fewer the loans, the better, imo. The collegeboard distribution between scholarships/grants and loans/jobs is what I’m looking for except that that stat lumps jobs in with loans. Some colleges make pledges about the total amount of loan aid students can receive. </p>
<p>Info like that is what I’m looking for for a lower tier of LACs that we are considering for my son. I guess those colleges cannot afford to do make that sort of pledge for everybody that attends. college-ruled mentioned preferential packaging where colleges give the best aid to the students they deem most desirable. White males are a dime a dozen. I’m guessing that he might get a better FA package at a LAC where there is a higher distribution of women to men, than he would at a school with a strong engineering program, for example.</p>
<p>crickettoo - regarding your comment “The collegeboard distribution between scholarships/grants and loans/jobs is what I’m looking for except that that stat lumps jobs in with loans.”</p>
<p>You can actually dig deeper to determine the loan/job breakout on this for a specific school but it takes a little sleuthing - either by going to the school’s net price calculator, or digging around the school’s website. Before distributing institutional aid, schools will first package a student with work study and loans (if the school is not a “no-loan” school). </p>
<p>At Dartmouth, they will package $2450 in work study and also package loans based on income, starting at $2500 loans for incomes between $75K-100K and topping out at $5500 (the Stafford max for a freshman) for incomes above $150K.</p>
<p>Some of this information is difficult to find on the website, but most schools will tell you these ranges if you call FA and ask.</p>
<p>college-ruled, I’ve heard the Common Data Set referenced, but have never used it. I found a good article on using the CDS to evaluate colleges on “The College Solution Blog” by Lynn O’Shaughnessy. I’ll look it over. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the CDS for Hendrix College, the school my other child attends. </p>
<p>sybbie719, I do realize that loans are included in the financial need met by the college. Actually, the title I gave the thread is incorrect. I was really looking for info about colleges that don’t include loans, or a large a loan, in the financial aid for students. Thanks for your detailed answer and further analysis you gave me for the Grinnell data. I had not taken the time to calculate work/study versus loans. I see how you came up with those numbers, and that is exactly one of the things I was looking for. Thanks! I have another kid in college and am already having difficulty paying my EFC for her college. That’s one reason why I’m trying to learn more about the FA process and how it works at different colleges. I’m trying to be a better consumer and get a potentially better deal for college kid number 2.</p>
<p>"I have another kid in college and am already having difficulty paying my EFC for her college. That’s one reason why I’m trying to learn more about the FA process and how it works at different colleges. I’m trying to be a better consumer and get a potentially better deal for college kid number 2. "</p>
<p>OP, you DO realize that your EFC [ expected FAMILY contribution] will be the TOTAL AMOUNT your family will be expected to pay for college expenses next year, REGARDLESS of whether you have 1 or 2 kids in college at the same time, correct? If you are paying X now [ X being this years EFC ] , you will NOT be expected to pay 2X when the second goes off to college.</p>
<p>Loans are capped for students. $5500 for freshman. There are parent loans (PLUS) that some parents take out to meet their EFC or any gap. No-loan schools are unfortunately just a handful and it’s a declining number and someone correct me if I’m wrong but “no loan” applies to the student not the parent right?</p>
<p>Momofthree - Although the Stafford is capped. Can’t a University also offer a Perkins Loan on top of that? And yes, no matter what, you will be paying your EFC - unless you can get a full ride (merit) somewhere.</p>