The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.
You don’t need to qualify for need-based financial aid in order to get a discount on the cost of college.
Although some colleges only offer need-based awards, many colleges also offer merit aid.
[Learn strategies for students too rich for financial aid but too poor for college.]
Merit scholarships can lessen the burden of college tuition for families that do not qualify for need-based aid. In order to win these scholarships, students must either have outstanding academic accomplishments, such as high grades and test scores, or impressive extracurricular activities.
Colleges often use merit scholarships to lure high-achieving students. But some higher education experts criticize the practice of offering this kind of aid, arguing that the financial resources should go to needy students.
[Gain insight into how colleges make decisions about merit scholarships.]
At each of the 10 colleges where merit scholarships are awarded to the most students , more than 40 percent of full-time students in fall 2015 received merit awards without qualifying for need-based aid, according to data submitted to U.S. News in an annual survey. These colleges gave merit aid at a much higher rate than the average among the 1,100 ranked colleges that reported these data: 14.1 percent.
There are 17 ranked colleges that did not give any merit aid to full-time students in fall 2015, according to U.S. News data, including the U.S. Air Force Academy, which pays its cadets for their attendance. Some highly ranked colleges are on the list of schools that did not give any merit scholarships, including Princeton University, Middlebury College, Amherst College and Dartmouth College, to name just a few.
Many schools reserve merit aid for exceptional circumstances, such as the 220 ranked colleges where merit scholarships are awarded to less than 5 percent of full-time students.
Below is a list of the 10 ranked colleges where the highest percentage of full-time students in fall 2015 received merit aid. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School name (state) | Percentage of students who were awarded merit scholarships without demonstrating financial need in 2015-2016 | U.S. News rank and category |
| Cooper Union (NY) | 58.7% | 1, Regional Colleges (North) |
| Rhodes College (TN) | 53.1% | 44 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| Trinity University (TX) | 50.8% | 1, Regional Universities (West) |
| University of Puget Sound (WA) | 47.8% | 70 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| Hillsdale College (MI) | 47.0% | 83 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| Samford University (AL) | 45.2% | 4, Regional Universities (South) |
| Denison University (OH) | 44.8% | 51 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
| New School (NY) | 43.2% | 129 (tie), National Universities |
| Gonzaga University (WA) | 42.5% | 4, Regional Universities (West) |
| University of San Francisco | 42.1% | 107 (tie), National Universities |
Don’t see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find merit aid data, complete rankings and much more. Sign up for the U.S. News Extra Help: College Admissions free email newsletter to receive expert advice twice a month .
U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2016 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The merit aid data above are correct as of July 18, 2017.
More from U.S. News
10 Ways to Nab a Scholarship to Pay for College
Discover Ways to Attend Classes or Earn a Degree for Free
Strategies for Students Too Rich for Financial Aid, Too Poor for College
Why High School Senior Year Matters for College Financial Aid
10 Colleges Where Students Are Most Likely to Receive Merit Aid originally appeared on usnews.com
