What is Merit Aid and Which Colleges Give the Most Merit Aid? November 27, 2009
Ian Welham on merit aid and which colleges give the most.
There are several ways to pay for your college education, including financial aid, loans, personal savings and merit aid. Out of the four listed, only two do not need to be paid back: financial aid and merit aid.
But what happens when your family makes too much money to qualify for college financial aid, but the cost is still overwhelming? Or, your family does qualify for financial aid but not nearly enough to cover the added expenses? If either scenario sounds familiar, you should research schools that offer merit aid.
Merit aid is different than financial aid because it is based on special skills instead of financial need. As a result, merit aid opportunities are not always easy to find. You must do your research. The easiest way to qualify for a merit aid scholarship is to achieve a high grade point average, prepare and score highly on your SAT’s and belong to ample after-school activities and volunteer work.
But it’s not always about getting straight A’s. You can get merit aid by matching your skills or talents to the mission of the school. For example, students get merit money for sports (we know one girl who got $9,000 to bowl) or music (another client got $11,000/year to play flute in the marching band). Here’s another scenario: A college is trying to increase its reputation in the sciences. It builds a new $100 million chemistry wing. Well, let’s say your daughter happens to be an ‘A’ student in chemistry, but only a B- student in history and languages. Well, she might still very well get merit aid from the college looking to fill its new chemistry wing with chemistry scholars.
Important Note: at many schools, you need to fill out the FAFSA form before you’ll be considered for merit aid. So don’t leave out that important step.
U.S. News and World Report comes out with a listing each year of the top colleges in several areas. This year they had a category titled, “Schools with the most merit aid.” Although there were several colleges listed along with the percentage of students who receive merit aid, I am going to list only those schools with a 50% or higher rating. This means that 50% or more students at the particular colleges are receiving merit aid scholarships.
| Finlandia University, Hancock, MI 100% | Cooper Union, New York, NY 72% |
| Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, IA 79% | University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK 60% |
| University of Colorado – Denver 58% | Denison University, Granville, OH 51% |
| New College of Florida, Sarasota, FL 55% | University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 50% |
| Seton Hall University, S. Orange, NJ 52% | Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, VA 50% |
| Fontbonne University, St. Louis, MO 51% |
You can visit the US News and World Report website at:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges
Here you can read more lists including, schools with the highest acceptance rate, most students living on campus and most transfer students. Their reports can give you a great idea as to which colleges maybe a good fit so you can start visiting and applying!
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