More about Merit Aid
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.