My kids, both with wGPAs of 4.0/4.1 and overall ACTs of 31/32, got enough merit aid from the following schools to bring the annual COA between $30k-$40k:

Wooster
Kalamazoo
Clark
Lawrence
Denison
Eckerd
Trinity (TX)

Public OOS schools that they considered and that would have been ~$35k

SUNY-Geneseo
UNC-Asheville
UNC-Wilmington

You might also consider Mary Washington. One of my kids got a scholarship offer there that would have brought the COA to 15k, but we are in- state. I don't know how generous they are with aid for OOS students. Still, even full COA for OOS is <$40k, I believe.

Minnesota

Pitt
Northeastern
Tulane

SMCM only offered 5K (to my above average but not stellar kid)

Basically, if you have great stats, you can get some aid at national universities ranked around 50. For schools even lower-ranked, like 100 or lower, you can get considerable aid, oftentimes enough to equal in-state tuition or even full tuition. Also, lots of aid - $25k or so - at mid-tier LACs. However, if you kid is average, don’t expect a lot of merit from these schools: you have to go even further down the food chain. At that point, a solid state school might be your best choice.

I assume you are talking about public schools only? My kid received aid at UVM.

University of Southern California
University of Richmond
Pitt
Indiana University

Delaware, Tennessee, and Miami Ohio.l so far. Miami's merit aid is considerable.

Pitt and St. Joes

U Pitt and Temple

Kid 1: LSU, U of South Carolina
Kid 2: Vermont, Northeastern
Kid 3: U of Washington

All 3 ended up choosing UMD, though.

Vermont, Macalester and George Washington all offered DD $15-$20K per year.

U of Delaware, Indiana, George Mason.

Anonymous wrote:Juniata

+1

Their merit aid roughly cut the cost of attendance in half.

It is a good school if you seek a small, rural liberal arts college that is strong in science prep.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon, Oberlin, Macalaster, St. Olaf, Wooster, Grinnell, Pitt and Case Western

Did they choose one of these schools?

Yes. Did not quiet for need based aid. Attending Oberlin with $25k a year merit. Also eats at a co-op, which saves $4k a year. Got Oberlin down to $48k this year.

Mac was $20k
St. Olaf was about $20k, but they are less expensive than most privates, so the net price was below Oberlin
Wooster was $26k, which was the max, but this was a couple years ago. Max is now $40k
Grinnell was $25k (serious contender, but we could not visit in spring of 2020 and he did not want to go to Iowa sight unseen
Pitt was $10k and honors college
I don’t remember CWRU. It wasn’t a top contender
Kenyon was $15k

Also admitted WM in state, no aid

Absolutely loves Oberlin FWIW. I’ve been very impressed with the academics, the community and how they have managed COVID.