@4junior, Yes, that’s the case at top-LAC’s and universities, but at many, many other schools, including most state universities, there aren’t any institutional need based grants.
So, unless the Federal Pell Grant plus the Federal Student Loan, totaling around $11,000, meets the cost of attendance then one needs to pursue parent loans or one is out of luck - merit aid may close the gap some, but it isn’t typically so.
As a result, yes top universities and LAC’s that meet 100% of demonstrated need provide an unique opportunity to attend a great school with at the most a small total student loan obligation - less than $30,000.
Here is a list of colleges and universities that are “no-loan” for low-income students:
Amherst College
Appalachian State University
Arizona State University
Boston University
Bowdoin College
Brown University
Bryan College (Tennessee)
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Carleton College
Colby College
College of Holy Cross (Worcester, MA)
College of William and Mary
Colorado State University-Pueblo
Columbia University
Connecticut College
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Davidson College (North Carolina)
Duke University
Emory University
Fairfield University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Grinnell College
Harvard University
Haverford College
Indiana University Bloomington
Kenyon College
Lafayette College
Lamar University
Lehigh University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Miami University (Ohio)
Michigan State University
North Carolina State University
Northern Illinois University
Northwestern University
Oberlin College
Pomona College
Princeton University
Rice University
Sacred Heart University
Stanford University
Swarthmore College
Texas A&M University
Texas State University - San Marcos
Tufts University
University of Arizona
University of California at Berkeley
University of California System
University of Chicago
University of Florida
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Louisville
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
University of Minnesota System
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania
University of Tennessee
University of Texas at El Paso
University of Toledo
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
University of Washington
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
Washington and Lee
Washington University in St. Louis
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
Williams College
Yale University
https://www.edvisors.com/plan-for-college/money-saving-tips/no-loans-colleges/