<p>I went on all of these colleges websites and on most of them, I cannot seem to find the average need based financial aid package (solely made up of grants and scholarships). Can you give me links or numbers to tell me this much needed info? Thanks!</p>
<p>I have a book that tells me what the average need-based financial aid package is</p>
<p>what school's would you like this information for?</p>
<p>Haha I'm so silly, I forgot to write down the names, here they are:</p>
<p>Middlebury
Haverford
Swarthmore
Colgate
Hamilton</p>
<p>Thanks =)</p>
<p>Middlebury: Average Aid Package: $32,940 (45% of undergrads determined to have financial need)</p>
<p>Haverford: $29,072 (45%)</p>
<p>Swarthmore: $31,553 (48%)</p>
<p>Colgate: $34,659 (34%)</p>
<p>Hamilton: $31,003 (48%)</p>
<p>I could be wrong, but I believe Swarthmore is the only one of those that uses only grants and no loans.</p>
<p>Thank you pierre! And jarsilver... I know that most include loans, but I just plan on checking off the grants/scholarships and ignoring the loans. And most of the loans are less than 5000 dollars, so I am kind of estimating here.</p>
<p>These aid numbers can be found for most schools by googling their "Common Data Set" and looking at Section H2, line j. The loan data is there, too.</p>
<p>Wow thanks a lot! That is EXACTLY what I am looking for!</p>
<p>If you are looking for LACs with good FA, try Pomona, Williams, and Amherst, possibly Bowdoin also.</p>
<p>Average size of package may also reflect the fact, in some cases, that fewer students are receiving any package at all.</p>
<p>My d. received a significantly better package at Smith than at Williams. I don't know if that is typical - it is just one data point.</p>
<p>In this case, the average aid package is the average for "aided" students only. So the number receiving aid wouldn't impact that number.</p>
<p>Loans are included as part of the aid package. So $30k with $4k in loans is not as good a package as $30k with no loans.</p>
<p>Need based aid is so highly dependent on your personal situation that it is almost ridiculous to say that "this college" or "that college" will give YOU the best package.</p>
<p>Of the five schools you mention, Swarthmore's per student endowment dwarfs the others, which is why they are need-blind, 100% of need, and loan-free.</p>
<p>Data from one of my friends (class of 2012):</p>
<p>EFC: $11,000</p>
<p>School Grants (load not counted)</p>
<p>Amherst $36,000
Smith $40,000
Wellesley $37,000</p>
<p>All schools have the similar cost (about $51,000). Smith is very generous if you are top student</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! All of your information has been very helpful (but I know that I am not at the Amherst/Williams/Smith caliber) but thankss</p>
<p>I know it's not on your list, but Davidson is a comparable school with the exception of having better weather! Anyways, they do not use loans as part of their packages..all grants.</p>
<p>My data:</p>
<p>EFC: 7,700</p>
<p>Midd: 27,000 + 1,500 loans
Ford: 33,000 (!) + 4,000 Federal Work Study
Amherst: 27,000 + 1,600 Federal Work Study</p>
<p>^^ This isn't "data' unless you have actually gotten these offers from the schools in question.</p>