So I’m a parent, looking for some preliminary ideas for my son, who is might become a national merit finalist, has high scores and grades, so could compete for or be guaranteed merit aid. But most of the NMF schools with guaranteed big merit awards are in the south. But he doesn’t want a warm climate, and doesn’t want to be in tornado alley either. He’s a skier and would prefer to stay in the north / northeast. We live in Delaware. Do any schools actually fit this criteria? We are very unlikely to qualify for any need based aid. Could contribute say $10,000 towards his college per year. Thanks.
I don’t know of any schools in the northeast that will offer enough merit to drop the cost to $10,000 a year ( a little more if he takes the Stafford loan). He essentially needs a full tuition scholarship. BU and Northeastern do give awards to NMF ( I think), but it won’t be anything close to what you need. He can apply early to Pitt and see if he gets full tuition- this is not guaranteed and is competitive. You can also look at the SUNY schools and see if any of them offer big merit to out of state students- try Buffalo ( UB). OOS cost is not horrible and if he gets merit it might work.
I think you are looking for a unicorn, sorry to say. Your son should google automatic full tuition and competitive full tuition yola site. There is a comprehensive list of schools which offer full tuition for students who meet certain GPA and test score requirements.
Schools in Delaware. Schools in North and South Dakota, Montana, Utah, Wyoming. Plenty of cold, skiing, very few tornadoes.
If you’re open to Catholic colleges, U Scranton and St. Joe’s offer a limited number of full tuition awards. Your $10,000 plus a portion of the $5,500 loan for him would cover room, board and books. Fordham offers full tuition to NMFs but R&B is $16,000-$20,000+ per year.
What about U Delaware? A high stats kid might get enough merit to stay within your budget.
U Maine? I know the school is really trying to recruit out of state students. There are some nice ski resorts in Maine, too! Sunday River and Sugarloaf are both great spots.
He could qualify for full tuition at Miami University. It’s Ohio, and not much skiing in the area, but it does get cold in the winter. 
Check their website, it lists criteria for merit scholarships.
Figure ballpark $12K for room and board anywhere you go. Add in travel, books, misc expenses and you’re still way over the $10K mark-- can he make up the difference with a summer job, assuming he can find a place that will cover full tuition?
None of these of interest?
http://www.njit.edu/financialaid/typesofaid/scholarships/meritbasedawards.php
http://www4.morris.umn.edu/admissions/scholarships
https://admission.wsu.edu/scholarships/national-merit/
University of Rochester?
I just saw recently that URochester’s full tuition merit scholarship, the Renaissance and Global Scholarship, is being phased out. A new scholarship with a need component will take its place. So, the OP is unlikely to get enough merit at Rochester.
http://www.campustimes.org/2017/04/23/renaissance-scholarship-to-be-phased-out/
Utah state, Utah are worth looking at. Costs at Utah state could be <10k if he wants to jump through all the residency hoops in yrs 2-4.
NMF get a full ride at the U of New Mexico. It’s hot and dry for much of the year but there are mountains within a short distance of campus for hiking and skiing (3 month season more or less). Additional ski areas are within a couple of hours’ drive.
U of Idaho offers a full ride for NMF. https://www.uidaho.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/national-merit-scholarship
U of Nevada Reno offers $16k/year and puts him in range of Lake Tahoe and all of the Eastern Sierra, including places like Mammoth. https://www.unr.edu/financial-aid/understanding-financial-aid/scholarships/national-merit
Michigan State’s program is competitive, not guaranteed, but offers large merit (room, board, $4,000) to NMFs. Michigan State sometimes stacks this with other awards, and there’s a member here whose child is on a full ride via stacking.
Snow would be better if you would consider Lake Tahoe (specifically University of Nevada - Reno).
https://www.unr.edu/financial-aid/understanding-financial-aid/scholarships/national-merit
Looks like he could get a nice scholarship at Montana State University if he indicates it’s his first choice – decent skiing close by, and then there’s the big time skiing at Big Sky.
Idaho - full ride for NMF
http://www.uidaho.edu/financial-aid/scholarships/national-merit-scholarship
nephew was NMF and West Virginia paid for him to go there
Kentucky
check thru this list:
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
if his numbers are good Utah has some good scholarships and i hear the skiing isn’t half bad there
St. Lawrence would nicely match your criteria, but your son would need to qualify for one of their top scholarships for the school to fall within your budget.
Syracuse offers a limited number of full-tuition merit scholarships, but I don’t think your other expenses would be under $10k per year. It’s possible that your son could save money by moving off-campus after freshman year. Outside of NYC, LA, DC, and a few other cities, off-campus housing is often cheaper than dormitories.
Westminster College in Salt Lake City has good merit scholarships, but I don’t know if you could get it below $10,000 unless you also had an outside scholarship. It would probably be about $23,000-$25,000 a year including everything. But there may be more scholarships for NMF that I’m not aware of. It’s worth checking.
The skiing is excellent and very close by. Lots of members of the Olympic ski team attend the school.
Montana State would be less expensive (maybe $18,000?) and has some interesting majors–but it is a large university–not sure if you are looking for a small school or not.
Everything in Colorado is very expensive, except Western State Colorado U. in Gunnison–great skiing near by, but the college is very hard to get to. It also looked a little run down. My son has a friend there who loves it–a history major.
My colleague’s daughter got a great merit scholarship to U. of Kentucky, but there are no winter sports opportunities. Lots of horses.