Reply to Most over-ranked/under-ranked LACS on USNWR?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Reed is the most underrated (and intentionally so).[/quote]

Sigh....Why is Reed 80,000 a year with no merit aid? Super sad to take it off the list. [/quote]

Merit aid is not based on the price of tuition. Merit aid offered by colleges is used to game the rankings. Reed is wholly uninterested in giving money to wealthy, high stats kids to up its rankings on USNews. Also, many, many highly regarded colleges and universities are now charging around $80K for tuition, room, and board--regardless of whether they offer merit aid or not.[/quote]

That is an unfair assessment of merit aid.  All colleges want to attract the best students they can (and climb the rankings).  Need blind financial aid is also a tool to attract students who might otherwise feel disadvantaged in the application process.  Does merit aid really target the wealthy?  All things being equal, a wealthy kid would go to the most prestigious school he gets into, not the one that is providing the largest discount.  Merit aid therefore really targets the middle class or upper middle class kid who qualifies for little or no financial aid.  In the context of LACs, a family that is borderline for need based aid would probably hesitate to shell out 80k a year (versus much cheaper in state alternatives, for example) and would be wise to do so.  So if such a kid wants the LAC experience, merit aid may be the only possibility. Should this kid be denied that opportunity?  Only lower middle class and wealthy kids should have access to it?

Your attitude is very snotty.  Schools that provide merit aid are doing a tremendous service to families in the middle and appropriately rewarding some of our country's best, hardest working kids.[/quote]

DP - it they are correct. This is what kowtowing to USNWR has done to our nation’s colleges and universities. Any college counselor will tell you tgst the very top schools don’t offer merit aid any more because they don’t have to. You must drop to second or third tier schools to get any sort of substantial award and that almost always us in exchange for something tge schools want that is reportable to USNWR. Top GpA, top SAT. Top ACT.  Two small SLACs you’ve never heard offered my kid a full ride because if his ACT score.[/quote]

It is the practice of east coast schools to avoid merit aid, largely mirroring long established Ivy League practices, which were rooted in collusion.  Many great schools outside the east coast provide merit aid and various other scholarships.  Vandy.  Duke. W&L (ten percent of the school gets a merit based full ride).  Davidson has merit based full rides.  Every school wants the best students- and providing generous financial aid in general is a way to get students in the door.  You are just framing this as kowtowing to USNWR for merit aid schools.  Yes, lower ranked schools need to be more aggressive with merit aid to attract top students.  It's only natural and there is nothing wrong with it.  Everyone at these schools is better off if they can attract a nice group of very strong students.  Duke proivdes merit aid while Bates does not- does that make Bates better than Duke? LOL[/quote]

Collusion? Please explain.
Instead of cherry picking the southern schools that you know that offer merit aid, how about doing some research:
https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/higher-education/higher-ed-watch/merit-vs-need-based-aid-what-the-research-says-2/
"research shows that the increasing availability of merit aid has largely come at the expense of low-income students"[/quote]

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2022/12/08/following-antitrust-expiration-merit-and-athletic-scholarships-become-an-option-for-the-ivy-league/

It's kind of obvious that any dollar that potentially goes to not low income students doesn't benefit low income students.  But there is sooooo much money out there for low income students.  Is it the end of the world that some money is used for other priorities?  By this logic, all athletic scholarships should be cancelled.  Even schools that provide some merit aid seem to primarily provide financial assistance based on need.
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