Save thousands of dollars a year on college with Merit Aid

Save thousands of dollars a year on college with Merit Aid.

And you don’t need to qualify for financial aid.

New York Times money columnist Ron Lieber’s new online video course distills his years of research and reporting on how to save money with Merit Aid into one comprehensive resource. With his course, you’ll learn that Merit Aid is available at most colleges, how it works and how to get more of it. Already have a Merit Aid offer? Learn how to ask for more.

What people are saying…

“I thought colleges had all the power in the application process. Your insights helped me increase the Merit Aid for my son by $20,000 over four years, in just a ten-minute phone call with the school. Pretty good return on investment!!”

Connecticut parent
Drexel University

“Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU. Based on your advice, we decided to appeal the financial aid award on the basis of merit. They replaced loans and work study with a four-year merit award, saving us $18,000 over four years.”

Oregon parent
Lafayette College

“Your advice yielded an extra $20,000 over four years!”

California parent
Rensselaer Polytechnic Insitute

“Just finished your terrific course (in one sitting!). I thought it would be a good refresher of what I already had learned, but of course I learned so much more. You definitely make it easier and more palatable.”

California parent
Bryn Mawr College

Here’s what you’ll learn

Part 1 (Defining Merit Aid)

We’ll start by answering the big, overarching question on everyone’s mind: How did prices get so high, anyway? (The answer might surprise you, and I promise that you don’t need to understand economics.)

Then we’ll define Merit Aid – and I’ll tell a few stories about its odd origins and how it swept the nation in the last 25 years. We’ll also clear up any questions you have about need-based aid (what you get if you can’t afford to pay full price) and Merit Aid (which doesn’t depend on your income or assets.)

Part 2 (The nitty gritty)

Here, we’ll get into the nitty gritty. What types of schools offer Merit Aid? (There are at least five, and I’m going to be blunt in how I describe them.) How much do they tell you about who gets it and why? (Not very much, all too often.) How can you learn about your odds? (There are several ways, and I’ve got a big sheet of useful data that you’d probably never find on your own.)

Part 3 (Negotiating and accepting Merit Aid)

Here, we’ll talk about how to decipher any Merit Aid offer you might get. (It will probably be confusing.) I’ll also give you advice on how to ask for more money. (You should probably do this.) We’ll also talk about early decision and whether and how schools lowball students who apply ED and also want Merit Aid. (Some admit it, some don’t, not everyone does it, and there are ways to find out which school does what.)

Part 4 (Strategy and a pep talk)

Part of ending up paying the right place at a school that’s right for you is shopping strategically in the first place. So many families get this wrong, but I’ll help you understand the three main reasons most teenagers go to college and the three unhelpful emotions that often foul up the shopping process.

Finally, a pep talk. I’m actually hopeful about how this will end for you and your family, even though there are a lot of sophisticated forces lined up against you. I’ll explain all of that here before you go.

Part 1 (Defining Merit Aid)

Part 2 (The nitty gritty)

Part 3 (Negotiating and accepting Merit Aid)

Part 4 (Strategy and a pep talk)

It’s perfectly fine to digest the course in chunks, and you can go back at any time to rewatch lessons; study up on strategy at each stage of your college shopping process; and download exercises and guides that are only available here and not in my book or my New York Times columns.

More about Merit Aid

It’s not based on what you can afford to pay

Merit Aid is different from need-based aid. It’s often more about what a high school senior has done – and can do for a college – than about parents’ income or assets. Students whose parents have six or seven-figure incomes often get a lot of it.

Money for school that you don’t pay back

Merit Aid is a bit like a grant or scholarship, because you don’t have to pay it back. Schools subtract it from the list price after you get in, when they tell you what they would ask you to pay to attend.

Most schools offer Merit Aid

All but the 40 or so universities that reject the highest percentage of students – both public and private – offer Merit Aid. Duke does. So does Tulane. The University of Colorado Boulder has money available, and if Bama Rush is your thing, that school throws a ton of money at teenagers too.

Lots of students can get Merit Aid

Some schools give Merit Aid based on pure academic firepower. Others give it to students with special skills or characteristics. And many do both things. Still others give it to everyone – but don’t tell anyone that it doesn’t actually make you special.

It’s possible to estimate how much Merit Aid your student can receive

Most schools won’t tell you before you apply how much merit aid you might get. But there are little-known ways to get estimates or make educated guesses.

Schools use Merit Aid as a bargaining chip to entice preferred students

Some schools use Merit Aid to essentially buy a group of incoming freshmen that has higher grades or test scores than those who might otherwise attend without a big price cut. Others use it because people with the ability to pay a school’s full price may not think the degree is worth that price. Some schools use Merit Aid for both reasons.

Merit Aid goes by many names

Merit Aid is also known as “merit scholarships,” “presidential scholarships,” “academic awards” and other names. Schools use whatever term they think will make students feel best about themselves and most likely to matriculate – without asking for an even bigger discount.

About Ron

Ron Lieber is the Your Money columnist for The New York Times, where his work has received the Gerald Loeb award – business journalism’s highest honor – three times. He is the author or co-author of three New York Times bestsellers, including “The Price You Pay for College” and “Taking Time Off,” a book about gap years.

Ron lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Jodi Kantor (a fellow New York Times reporter) and his two daughters. He received need-based aid in middle school and high school at Francis W. Parker School in Chicago and in college, at Amherst, where his mother flew out each year to appeal his family’s aid package. Ron speaks frequently to audiences of all sizes about what to pay for college and how the system got so complicated.