Building your College List around Merit Aid

Duke University offered an average of $87,775 to non-need students during the last cycle! Sound enticing?

Don't count on it, for only a select 3% of those non-need students got it. If you are looking for merit aid - awards based on academics, talents, leadership, etc - then you need to be looking at colleges that actually provide it!

Merit aid isn't luck, it's list-building strategy, and the Common Data Set (CDS) gives you past data on what colleges give and to how many students.

The free money is buried deep in each college's Common Data Set, a report every college publishes with test scores, average GPAs, acceptance rates, demographics, and what we're all really after... merit aid.

Google "College Name Common Data Set," and look in Section H (Financial Aid) for two numbers:

• the average $$ amount non-need students receive
• how many of them (what %) are actually getting it

If a college offers a lot of money to a lot of students, great. But will you get it? In general, the top applicants get the biggest offers. Land above the 50th %ile, or better yet the upper 25th %ile, and you'll probably see some nice $$$ come through.

Applying to highly selective colleges or popular flagships? Don't bank on it. Can I remind you of Duke!?

For non-need students, sort your college list into three buckets:

• Little aid – Highly selective privates and top flagships. Little to no merit aid, no matter how great you are.
• Some aid – Strong mid-tier schools offering $10K-$25K a year for top students.
• Most aid – Often smaller liberal arts colleges, some not well-known but with great programs.

Build your college list around more than just degrees offered. Build it around where you might actually get merit aid.

Schedule a 30 minute complimentary meeting to learn how to find the best college fits for your student!