<p>Posting for a friend w/DD w/B/B+ GPA from large Chicago suburban HS (2012), who's asked for help. Husband recently died, after short illness, leaving major medical bills, savings tapped out, no life insurance policy, "underwater" house, etc. Mom is admin asst, not likely to leverage into a better-paying job. DD has no major selected, no hooks, but nice kid. DD wants college but thinks it's financially not feasible; her HS's college counseling near nonexistent. Mom would like her at a LAC within easy driving distance from Chicago. Financial aid essential. Given situation, recommendations re: nearby midwest LACs w/great financial aid for students of single moms/distressed families would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to help, but don't know dynamics of this financial aid scenario. Thank you.</p>
<p>St. Olaf. It is in Minnesota and it apparently does 100% need based aid.</p>
<p>Would Beloit work? On CB they say they meet 96% of need on average.</p>
<p>Lake Forest College. They supposedly meet 100% of need.</p>
<p>DePauw has very good financial aid, as does Knox.</p>
<p>[Associated</a> Colleges of the Midwest](<a href=“http://www.acm.edu/index.html]Associated”>Associated Colleges of the Midwest)</p>
<p>For financial aid information about any of these schools, Google for the school name + “Common Data Set”. Download the file; go to section H.</p>
<p>Some of them may be a little too selective for a B/B+ student.</p>
<p>You may want to look into these schools. In our area they have a reputation for providing decent financial aid packages. </p>
<p>Carroll University in Wisconsin
Ripon College in Wisconsin
Marian University in Wisconsin
Luther in Iowa</p>
<p>Also, Aquinas College in Michigan has a nice calculator on its’ website. I know they give an automatic scholarship to oos students.</p>
<p>Knox (in Galesburg, IL) also doesn’t require ACT or SAT scores for most incoming students. Not having to take/study for/pay for a standardized test may be one less stress for them.</p>
<p>Not sure how the mom would define “within easy driving distance of Chicago,” but Truman State in Kirksville, Mo., (about 6.5 hours away) is considered one of the best buys in Midwestern LACs. About $19,000 for out of state students with discounts possible for students in bordering states.</p>
<p>We were surprised (as were two friends of ours children) how generous Lake Forest was with their package last year. Mine did not attend, but the other two did. Northern Michigan is a pretty good bargain with a large percentage of Chicago Area students so could probably catch rides, etc.</p>
<p>Lake Forest, Knox, Beloit and maybe Earlham?</p>
<p>Coe College in Cedar Rapids IA might be a good choice.</p>
<p>I’ll second Beloit - they gave my older son good financial aid.</p>
<p>Not a pure LAC, but what about Bradley in Peoria? They have an early estimator tool to help determine what finan aid might be, priority advantage notification (if application is complete by Nov 30, they’ll give you admissions decision within 4 weeks) and COA appears to be very reasonable for a private ($34,904 for tuition, housing and fees.) Also waive fee for online application.</p>
<p>Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that Bradley is not binding for the early application. I see no reason not to. I went to their information meeting, it seems like a great school.</p>
<p>I’ll second Coe College. She sounds like the kind of kid they love – and they are very good at financial aid.</p>
<p>In addition to institutional aid, she may be eligible for Illinois state aid. She can only use that if she attends a school in Illinois. I suspect that it may be beneficial to take a close look at schools in Illinois. </p>
<p>[Monetary</a> Award Program (MAP)](<a href=“http://www.collegeillinois.org/students/during-college/types-of-financial-aid/grants/monetary-award-program.html]Monetary”>http://www.collegeillinois.org/students/during-college/types-of-financial-aid/grants/monetary-award-program.html)</p>
<p>Denison University.</p>
<p>Here is my comment about Denison. We loved the school! The CB says that they meet 97% of financial need on average. My son was accepted. I believe that Denison was a high match/low reach school for my son. That said, he still got a merit award (on the smaller side of the spectrum IMO). As far as the FA component, they did not meet 97% of our need, not even close. If I were to rank their FA package to other schools, it was not the worst package, but definitely fell toward the bottom end and we could not consider sending our son there.</p>
<p>On another note, most of the CTCL schools that my son applied to (there were at least 4) were not the better financial aid packages on the whole. Hiram’s package was a bit better than other 3 packages. One school wrote to our son and asked him to call them if finances were the reason he was not attending (at that point my son committed himself emotionally to another school, so he was no longer interested in wrangling for more money. That was a shame because if their best offer had been on the table, he might have attended…sigh).</p>