<p>I know this has been asked before, but all the threads I can find are at least a year old. I was wondering if anyone had any new input? I know all the ivy leagues have great aid, but of course chance of acceptance is slim. What are some schools that offer similar aid to like Swarthmore and Haverford?</p>
<p>See
[Which</a> Colleges Claim to Meet Students’ Full Financial Need? - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2011/02/16/which-colleges-claim-to-meet-students-full-financial-need]Which”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2011/02/16/which-colleges-claim-to-meet-students-full-financial-need)</p>
<p>However, the list is a year old.</p>
<p>Here is a good link at wikipedia
[Student</a> financial aid in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Student financial aid in the United States - Wikipedia”>Student financial aid in the United States - Wikipedia)
Check out the section on no-loan financial aid.
There may be more but this is a good list to start from.</p>
<p>Kayy, Swarthmore and Haverford promise to meet full need but may use different criteria and thus give better or worse aid than other schools. I found that 100% need schools varied in their aid packages by as much as 15-20K/year. For us, Haverford and Swarthmore both gave less aid than peer institutions but other posters have found differently. I would run the numbers on the calculators at the school’s site.</p>
<p>Both Haverford and Swarthmore’s calculators estimated over $50,000 in aid for me. I’m also not looking for schools that just meet 100% need because we all know that what the FAFSA thinks we can contribute and what we really can contribute can be quite different. I’m wondering about schools that go above and beyond.</p>
<p>This is a few years out of date: [Project</a> on Student Debt: What’s the Bottom Line?](<a href=“http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php]Project”>http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ncoa_chart.php), but it has some interesting numbers on it. Also consider no loan or low loan schools: [url=<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid]FinAid</a> | Answering Your Questions | No Loans for Low Income Students<a href=“I’m%20assuming%20that%20you%20are%20low(ish)%20income%20if%20you%20are%20getting%2050k%20grants”>/url</a>. If your school doesn’t use loans to meet financial need, then federal loans can be used to cover (some of the) the expected family contribution). </p>
<p>The big question after running various net price calculators at different different schools is… can your family afford to pay what these schools expect? (The EFC you get from the FAFSA is a misnomer really… it’s really just an index for how much federal aid you are eligible for.) </p>
<p>Also, if you have the stats for the schools with the best need based aid, you would also be able to earn some merit scholarship aid at other schools.</p>