I have a senior son just applying now, but he is applying to these schools based on some research we did that they may be generous with merit for higher stats kids:
Rollins (College Park, Fl)
Barry University (Miami Shores)
Nova Southeastern (Ft. Lauderdale)
North Park (Chicago)
LeMoyne (Syracuse)
SUNY Buffalo State College (we are in state but think they offer good merit for OOS too)
University at Buffalo
My daughter applied in 2019 (average student but music major so her merit included talent & academic) and received her best merit from these schools:
College of Saint Rose (Albany)-brought COA down to $19K*
Columbia College Chicago- brought COA down to $24K*
Loyola New Orleans**-brought COA down to $23K* (after she wrote an appeal letter which yielded $3000 extra per year)
*we did qualify for some financial aid but not much (these amounts were about $12K-$16K lower than our EFC that year) Our goal was $25K for her and our goal for my son is to keep costs around SUNY prices.
**this is the college she chose and currently attends
@Camasite This is exactly the experience we had when looking at colleges for D21. I knew nothing about merit aid before we began the search. I heard Ron Lieber speak on NPR about his book āThe Price You Pay for Collegeā and learned about the concept of merit aid and how to find out which schools offer it and how much. (Seems not something a lot of people talk about and/or understand).
Luckily, my DD was interested in womenās colleges and LACs, some of which gave her aid. With regard to the womenās colleges, except for Barnard and Wellesley (which do not need to lure the top female students to their campuses), they offered her significant merit aid. (FWIW the womensā colleges are a great option if your daughters are interested for this reason as well as the fact that their admit rates are higher than similarly prestigious co-ed colleges).
Iām going to list what she was offered below (not to humble-brag but to provide specific info for those who are interested in the details to educate your own teenās search).
My DDās stats: 33 ACT, A- GPA (school doesnāt rank or have AP classes, highly regarded private school with college prep curriculum, I assume the recs were very personal and strong).
Merit aid received (per year for 4 years, no strings, no minimum gpa):
Smith - $15K
Sarah Lawrence - $25K
Bryn Mawr College - $30K
Mount Holyoke - $40K
She didnāt get any from Scripps, but a bunch of her friends got between $10K-15K.
And one bonus is that it feels really good for the kids to be recognized for their hard work/efforts, and Iām sure it helped her make the decision to attend BMC, and certainly helped us afford such a wonderful institution.
Juniata College: $38k/year, net price $31,948
Washington College: $38k/year, net price $32,080
Allegheny College: $39k/year, net price $29,756
St. Maryās of Maryland (out of state): $14k/yr, net price $31,581
U of Mary Washington (in state): $10k/year, net price $17,456.
In net price, I counted tuition/fees, room & board. Excluded the collegesā estimates on things like travel, personal expenses. So they all came in pretty much around $30k for us except for the in-state school.
Here is D23 but just net price because I am too lazy to look everything up, but I have the net price memorized. No books or travel expenses in these net prices. Just tuition, fees, R&B.
Miami OH - $20K
IL St - $17K
UW Whitewater - $14K
UW LaCrosse - $17K
Wartburg - $24K
St. Norbert - $25K
UW Madison - Waiting
Central MI - $0K
Hereās my sonās merit aid and COA offers for this year. CS major, all schools OOS. Very high ACT/SAT, 17 AP/DE classes, but 3.6-3.7 uGPA. Leaving out any National Merit offers to not muddy the data.
College
Merit
avg. COA
Alabama
-$28,000
$23,000
Arizona State
-$15,500
$38,900
Iowa State
-$16,500
$24,200
Maine
-$18,600
$32,900
Michigan State
-$15,000
$44,700
Michigan Tech
-$17,000
$44,300
Minnesota
-$10,000
$44,700
Missouri S&T
-$15,700*
$19,000*
Nebraska
-$23,000
$24,800
Stony Brook
-$11,000
$38,300
Utah
$0
$30,500*
Virginia Tech
$0
$54,500
Washington State
-$11,000
$34,900
Listed COAs are tuition/fees/room/board/books only, but with a 3 percent increase per year added. Asterisks mean thatās assuming my son would get in-state after the first year.
My D23ās merit/COA, in order of lowest COA - sheās test optional, 3.8UW/4.2W, elementary education major
UW Whitewater 6K/18K
Illinois State 6K/20K
Iowa State 12K/24K
Beloit College 43K/26K
Gustavus Adolphus 35K/30K
UIUC (laughter echoing in a hollow empty cavern)/31K
Dayton 28K/35K
Michigan State 15K/36K
Minnesota 5K/42K
Yes, we liked Iowa State a lot, itās a beautiful campus. So many kids go there bc itās such a great value. However, sheās like 99% certain going to UIUC. Dayton is the runner-up.
If the extra $7K that UIUC costs over Iowa State is affordable, for many majors spending that extra may make sense (of course I donāt know the major sheās been accepted to, and spending that extra may not be an option). I would also not choose Dayton at $4K more over UIUC (again with the major disclaimer).
Completely agree that elementary ed isnāt prob worth an extra $28K, but thereās some other variables, like distance from home, vibrant and more interesting campus, diversity of student body, and the fact that sheās been raised on a steady diet of orange and blue since birth.
I really like Dayton and if she wanted to go there, Iād spend the extra money for it. I love the size of the school, the community-oriented vibe, the irrelevant Greek system, the living learning communities, that she gets out into classrooms as an education major during her first year, just a lot of thingsā¦ the heart wants what it wants, though, and apparently hers wants to be an illini. Itās hard to say to her, no, go farther from home and let me spend more money!
I actually suggested the opposite, but hedged depending on what her major is (and availability of the extra funds)!
Any chance she can get excited about Ill State which is excellent for elementary ed? There is so much to like about that school, which is often overlooked (IMO).
I do like much about Dayton too, but probably wouldnāt spend the extra money over UIUC or Ill State or Iowa state for elem ed.
If I recall from when S22 applied to Iowa State, there are departmental scholarships, too. We got Iowa State down to 16-18K/year, but since he was NMF, it still could not beat Bama.
D23 had competed so many times in Red Bird Arena that Illinois State held absolutely no interest to her when we started looking at colleges. It was too familiar a location.
That is tough. IL St is a great school for education. My wife works at our HS and it is highly regarded by many people.
As I say everyoneās situation is different, but I wouldnāt go to UIUC over IL St for education, but we have a budget and really needed our kids to stick to it. If money isnāt a huge factor then you canāt go wrong with UIUC for sure.
