Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can also get a bit of an estimate by looking on College Navigator at the net price by family income. Looking at the highest income level (I think that's $100K+). We found that was pretty accurate for DD at the private schools she applied to. Hard to interpret it for public schools because it doesn't show in-state/OOS cost.

OP asked about merit-based pricing, not need-based pricing.

The net price factors in both. With a $200k income we didn't get need aid but all the private schools DD applied to ended up pretty close in price to the $110k+ net price shown in College Navigator. This was at colleges that don't claim to meet need so presumably most if not all the discount was merit aid (as it was for us).

Also Michigan State, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State.

Some schools list exactly what they'll give you based on test scores and GPA. These are two public schools that I know. I'm sure there are probably other schools out there that do the same thing.

WVU - https://financialaid.wvu.edu/home/scholarships/freshmen/freshman-and-transfer-scholarships-for-non-residents-of-west-virginia-2025-2026/climb-higher-scholarship-for-non-residents-2025-2026#eligibility

U of Louisville - https://louisville.edu/out-state-scholarships-aid

Anonymous wrote:Kid got merit to a safety -- 30k/yr. Wenhadnt been thinking about merit $ so not sure how to consider it. Is that a good amount of merit $? Any other thoights?

Judge it based on CoA. Don't let the discount fool you - half off garbage is still garbage.

Kid got merit to a safety -- 30k/yr. Wenhadnt been thinking about merit $ so not sure how to consider it. Is that a good amount of merit $? Any other thoights?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand what you are trying to say. In my experience, merit scholarships are offered to attract excellent students to a college. They pay all or most of the total cost, tuition and housing/meal plan. There are different levels within most colleges.

No, OP had it pretty much right. They are discounts, calculated by algorithm, that are intended to encourage your kid to attend their school. The algorithm includes family income (what they can afford) and student’s stats (how much they want you plus how likely you are to choose the school).

Yep. It's a personalized coupon that is sensitive to supply and demand.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand what you are trying to say. In my experience, merit scholarships are offered to attract excellent students to a college. They pay all or most of the total cost, tuition and housing/meal plan. There are different levels within most colleges.

No, OP had it pretty much right. They are discounts, calculated by algorithm, that are intended to encourage your kid to attend their school. The algorithm includes family income (what they can afford) and student’s stats (how much they want you plus how likely you are to choose the school).

Anonymous wrote:You can also get a bit of an estimate by looking on College Navigator at the net price by family income. Looking at the highest income level (I think that's $100K+). We found that was pretty accurate for DD at the private schools she applied to. Hard to interpret it for public schools because it doesn't show in-state/OOS cost.

OP asked about merit-based pricing, not need-based pricing.

You can also get a bit of an estimate by looking on College Navigator at the net price by family income. Looking at the highest income level (I think that's $100K+). We found that was pretty accurate for DD at the private schools she applied to. Hard to interpret it for public schools because it doesn't show in-state/OOS cost.

Anonymous wrote:DP. adding to the above, sometimes colleges that regularly give merit discounts will include that merit estimate in the Net Price Calculator. The clue is that the calculator asks for GPA and test scores.

UMiami did this.

DP. adding to the above, sometimes colleges that regularly give merit discounts will include that merit estimate in the Net Price Calculator. The clue is that the calculator asks for GPA and test scores.

Put some schools on your list that are known for giving merit aid — look in particular for schools that give “non-need-based aid” to a quarter or a third of students. (Nearly every school has a CDS online with these stats) — don’t worry that it’s not 100% because a good number of students will get need-based aid, so won’t qualify for non-need-based.

Check their net price indicator to confirm you likely wouldn’t qualify for need-based aid.

Have your kid apply.

If you wouldn’t get need-based aid, you likely don’t need to worry about FAFSA or CSS (unless they tell you otherwise, and/or you want your kid to get a federal loan to start building credit or to have a stake in their education).

When offers of admission come, they usually have merit included. Sometimes apparently the merit offers come later. All my kids’ were included with offer of admission.

In other words, if you are a full-pay family, you likely don’t need to do much except apply to some target/likely schools that give a decent amount of merit aid, and then see what comes back. If they give a good amount of merit and it’s a target or likely, you will probably get some, too.

Wooster and Whitman both do guaranteed merit reads, btw. And some schools have guaranteed merit based on stats (we didn’t apply to any of those, so I can’t be of much help pointing you to any).

I personally liked the vibe of merit aid schools better than need-only schools. Felt like a wider range of backgrounds represented.

By algorithm, of course.


https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-surprising-patterns-in-who-gets-merit-and-need-based-aid-from-colleges/#:~:text=The%20discounts%20are%20tailored%20by,prices%20for%20our%20airplane%20seats.

I don’t understand what you are trying to say. In my experience, merit scholarships are offered to attract excellent students to a college. They pay all or most of the total cost, tuition and housing/meal plan. There are different levels within most colleges.

Am I right that many schools are trying calculate the discount needed to induce a family to pay the rest of tuition? If that's the case, how are they making that determination?