University of Denver.
They sent a mailer with a chart of family income and SAT scores, that showed how much merit aid you would receive. When I did their NPC, it was the lowest of 10 schools. I also ran USC and BC, and they had the highest cost, even though they bill themselves as meeting 100% need. They “gapped” us by about $25,000. What’s up with that?
BC and USC are both CSS profile schools. They have a waaaay different definition of “need” than FAFSA only schools. U of Denvers is a CSS profile school too, but they apparently are more aggressive. Not may parents promoting Colorado schools… :-?
Sewanee: The University of the South has decent merit aid. About 20% of incoming freshman receive between 5k and 14k (avg @10k), with a very small number of full rides. However, the school is trying to get away from the high cost/high discount model and COA for class of 2018 is 50K. COA is locked in for 4 years. It is certainly not cheap, but it’s better than COA at many similar schools. Also, Sewanee uses FAFSA and their own form (which is very simple) to determine need. They don’t use Profile, nor do they require the NCP form - which can be a plus for many.
^ I think that Sewanee now determines on a yearly basis whether it will freeze COA for the matriculating students of an upcoming year.
@gandalf78 - that is true and it may not continue. However, the fact that they have locked it in for each incoming classes over the past few years is, IMO, a positive sign. The COA has increased for each incoming class, but I prefer knowing the 4 year COA upfront for budgeting purposes. To me, its like the difference between a fixed rate mortgage and an adjustable rate mortgage.
^ Yes, except that with an ARM you actually have a chance that rates will go down at some point; not so much with college costs of attendance, ha ha!
@Maggpie, it looks like the calculations were apples and oranges. Denver gave you a combined estimate for need-based aid based on ability to pay, plus merit aid based on stats. BC and USC just gave you need-based aid. USC and BC felt you didn’t need much aid, but obviously Denver wants your kid based on his/her stats and is willing to put money on the table to make it happen.
Just in case this link hasn’t been posted before… I found the interactive table particularly useful and relevant for this thread: “Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid” <a href=“Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid - Graphic - NYTimes.com”>Colleges and Universities That Award Merit Aid - Graphic - NYTimes.com;
That chart is deceiving, as it includes merit with a need component. For some of us, our kids need merit based on stats alone due to having to pay full freight, and not stats, plus need.
Plus it’s almost 4 years old so things have changed quite a bit.
The Kiplinger tool is very helpful for shopping for merit aid. It is updated each year. It specifically lists merit aid separate from need based aid.
<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php</a>
@northwesty, thanks for that link. That is super helpful!
I don’t see Reed on the list of liberal arts schools – maybe it didn’t make the top 100, or maybe there are no stats available?
Probably didn’t make the list. You can find the info for every school out there by ■■■■■■■■ through their Common Data Set information on their website. That’s where the info in the Kiplinger and similar compilations comes from.
Looks like Reed is 0% merit, 100% need aid.
<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/ir/cds/cds1314/cdssech201314.pdf”>http://www.reed.edu/ir/cds/cds1314/cdssech201314.pdf</a>
I’m not sure why TCU and University of Miami aren’t on this list.
Really? NYU is known for being very cheap with it’s finAid!
Stats based merit, no need, which in my mind is the definition of “merit” - Tulane, University of Alabama, University of Redlands
Northwesty–yes, Reed is need-based, but it is not need-blind. As I understand it, there are a subset of weaker applicants they will admit, but not fully fund their EFC. Also, Reed is known for refusing to fill out surveys so that they can be ranked.
You don’t really understand it, then.
Reed meets the full EFC of every student it admits.
What need-aware effectively means for Reed is that a number of people who have financial need are disregarded in favor or similar applicants who are full-pay.
Here is a tough one…my son’s grandparents put away a large sum of money for my son’s future…however, its in a trust that he cant touch until he is 21. So I am assuming that although my income would qualify him for some financial aid, he is basically out of luck since he has a trust (although it cant be used for college at this time)? Comments and suggestions welcomed!
@ringsidemd - you should start a new topic in the financial aid forum for this question. I honestly don’t know how a trust is treated, whether schools might expect you/he to borrow against it or what.