Schools that promise to meet 100% of fin need

Paying for College
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<p>The University of Minnesota is not usually on that list. It definitely gaps a lot of the students it admits. However, for a Pell Grant-eligible student who is also a National Merit finalist, it offers a package that amounts to being paid for going to college. We saw some silly offers from PROFILE colleges and some better offers from FAFSA-only colleges. The important thing is to apply to a wide range of colleges, work hard to be ready for and admissible to all of those colleges, and then compare offers.</p>

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<p>For some lists of schools, see this thread from last year: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/756681-colleges-meet-100-need.html?highlight=meet+100%25[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/756681-colleges-meet-100-need.html?highlight=meet+100%25&lt;/a&gt;
see especially links or lists in posts #1, 3 and 4</p>

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<p>Williams College</p>

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<p>“Schools that think they meet 100% of need” might be a better description of these lists. In some sense all of the schools meet 100% of need, but I have never seen 100% have more variation than it does when talking about schools that meet 100% of need.</p>

<p>The formulas are simple:

  1. COA - EFC = Need
  2. Aid = 100% of need</p>

<p>The catch is that except for FAFSA-only schools, the school itself gets to determine what COA is and what EFC is. In addition they get to decide what constitutes aid: grant, work-study, student loans, parent loans, supplemental loans, optional loans.</p>

<p>The end result is that you don’t really understand what 100% means for your particular sitaution until you are accepted and get a fin aid package. You can have a rough idea, but you really can’t tell until you see the school’s acual numbers.</p>

<p>D wanted to apply ED to a no-loan, 100%-of-need-met school. I wouldn’t let her. It turned out to be the worst of the 6 FA packages she received.</p>