<p>Does anyone know of a list of colleges and universities that provide 100% (or close to that) of unmet need for financial aid? Thanks.</p>
<p>Many of the top colleges meet 100% of need. Caveat- they also may be need aware re: acceptance, not to mention they most likely will utilize pROFILE as well as their own forms to determine need.
Additionally, remember that need can be met with any combination of loans, as well as grants and work study.</p>
<p>100% need met schools also do not generally offer merit aid as they already attract students who would be offered merit aid elsewhere.</p>
<p>I am on my phone so I can’t do a search for need met schools but I believe there have been previous CC threads on the topic.</p>
<p>Financial aid is based on the premise of </p>
<p>Cost of attendance - EFC (expected family contribution) = demonstrated need.</p>
<p>You are responsible for coming up with your EFC, which is based on how much the school believes that you can pay based on your income/assets, not how much you want to pay.</p>
<p>The vast majority of schools in the US do not met 100% demonstrated need. The ones that do meet 100% demonstrated need with no loans are amongst the most competitive when it comes to gaining admissions. </p>
<p>It is up to you/your family to determine how you are going to meet the unmet need (gap) in your financial aid package.</p>
<p>Student loans are part of many school’s need based financial aid package.</p>
<p>There are a number of schools that meet 100% of need for at least some of their students but I think you’re looking for a list of those that guarantee to meet need. You can find a list, and the qualifications, here:</p>
<p>[Project</a> on Student Debt: Financial Aid Pledges](<a href=“http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php]Project”>http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php)</p>
<p>Obviously, this is just a starting point and you’ll want to verify terms with the individual schools.</p>
<p>Here’s another one from USNews - 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.</p>
<p>[Which</a> Colleges Claim to Meet Students’ Full Financial Need? - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2011/02/16/which-colleges-claim-to-meet-students-full-financial-need]Which”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2011/02/16/which-colleges-claim-to-meet-students-full-financial-need)</p>
<p>*List of Schools that provide 100% of Unmet need </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>I think you meant to ask…List of schools that provide 100% of DETERMINED need.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the SCHOOLS get to determine your need…not you. They won’t care that you have a pricey mortgage or debt to pay off. </p>
<p>It’s not unusual for a school to expect your family to pay a lot more than you can…often about 25-33% of your gross income (can be more if you have a lot of assets).</p>
<p>If your child has very high stats, then have him apply to the ivies, Stanford, etc.</p>
<p>If your child has good, but not great stats, then finding such schools becomes more difficult.</p>
<p>This little datum - “Average percent of need met: XX%” - appears on the college board’s description of schools under “Cost & Financial Aid” . . just type in “college board (name of school)” and it’s 2 clicks away</p>
<p>I have in my files a friend’s results from 3 schools that each report meeting 100% of need:
school A COA ~ $48k: grant $10k; loans $7k; work/study $3.5k<br>
school B COA ~ $50k: grant $20k; loans $5k; work/study $3k
school C COA ~ $50k: grant $12k; loans $12k; work/study $0</p>
<p>In our experience each school has its own way to calculate “unmet financial need”</p>
<p>Which is why we also looked at schools that could provide merit aid: “Financial Aid Safety schools”</p>
<p>Kei-o-lei’s example shows that once they calculate (by their own formula) what they feel the family can pay, they have various ways to then offer financial support. Not always pretty. Even a “meet full need” school can come in less than what “you” think you need. And, if the package includes loans which you either don’t qualify for or don’t want to take, they usually don’t go back and offer more in grants. There are cases where they will, but the student has to be highly desirable.</p>
<p>Not all schools include loans in the package (you have to check their policies.) Including loans falsely makes the school look more generous. (School C looks like it’s offering a 24k package, but only 12k is from the college.) For my kids, it’s straightforward- grants, w/s, student contribution from summer earnings and family contribution. We then make the choice whether to use loans to meet our family part.</p>
<p>So, in addition to looking at financial safeties, you look for schools where the kid is particularly desirable.</p>