Where to Find Schools that Give Out Aid Based on Merit

Many former high school students empathizes with the overwhelming pressure to participate in advanced courses, overload themselves with extracurricular activities, as well as take advantage of community work, all in order to beef up their college applications and, hopefully, receive a much needed and deserved financial reward.

However, students today are finding that their four years of sleep deprivation to receive outstanding grades, be well-balanced in their schools and communities and graduate top of their classes have only led them to less financial aid and parents struggling to come up with that extra tuition. The last few years have shown a depressing trend amongst colleges in which the majority of scholarships are going to those students that demonstrate financial need not academic excellence.

Now do not get me wrong, providing financial help to families who demonstrate the need is admirable, but do we offer help to those families at the expense of those who have worked their fingers to the bone for four years to out shine all the others? Those who oppose merit-based scholarships claim recipients of these awards can already afford to attend college without the aid. While the truth is, every student has the same opportunity to work hard and to excel in the areas these colleges most look to for admission. The students who put forth this effort should be getting these scholarships whether they can afford to attend or not.

The problem arises when you look for schools that still provide such awards. You really have to search hard for these online resources. One thing to keep in mind during your search is that several schools offer a limited number of scholarships, based on varying criteria, and then award them to the same students. Therefore, when you look at a school's available scholarships remember that these numbers might not be accurate as many students might be awarded multiple scholarships.

For instances, one student might receive the college merit award and the national merit award. One last factor to consider is most students do not actually pay full tuition. Most students when attending private colleges will receive some type of aid, whether it be merit or need-based. However, every award has a different value as a student might be given an award for a set amount or simply receive a discount on their tuition. The good news is, though, only a small percentage of students actually pay full price on their tuition.

Listed below is a short list of colleges that give out the most merit based aid in dollars. This information is provided by usnews.com: Duke University 24,000; Georgetown University 25,000; George Washington 20,155; Brandeis University 19,000; Tulane University 19,000; Boston University 17,000; Vanderbilt University 17,000; John Hopkins 17,000; and Pepperdine University 15,600.

I hope this information helps your search.

References:

*Financial Aid Glossary, USNews.com