<p>But, you know what’s nice about merit aid? - you KNOW you have it for all 4 years. It’s not contingent on anything you, as parents do, (like make more money, win the lottery, get a bonus - lol) but only on what your kid does (keep up his/her grades). And, not all schools require much in the way of grades…(RPI has no GPA requirement at all - and I’m sure there are others).</p>