Most Students Receiving Merit Aid
Many colleges advertise generous merit scholarships without explaining that there are actually several different kinds of merit aid. Some colleges, for example, give fancy merit-sounding names to scholarships that they award to qualified students who have also shown that they can't afford the college's full price.
The federal government only awards Pell grants based on the student's "need" for money to pay for college. Some elite colleges also only award aid to students who they believe can't afford tuition, since they say all of their students are meritorious.
This chart lists the colleges that report the highest percentage of their students in the 2011-2012 academic year who "had no financial need and who were awarded institutional non-need-based scholarship or grant aid" excluding athletic awards and tuition benefits.
| Save | School | Percent of students receiving non-need based aid |
|---|---|---|
|
College of Wooster
Wooster, OH |
36% | |
|
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA |
36% | |
|
Westminster College
Fulton, MO |
36% | |
|
Truman State University
Kirksville, MO |
35% | |
|
Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL |
35% | |
|
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI |
35% | |
|
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY |
35% | |
|
Eckerd College
St. Petersburg, FL |
34% | |
|
Centre College
Danville, KY |
34% | |
|
Southwestern University
Georgetown, TX |
33% |
