Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always assume kids going to Kenyon likely got into the “1st tier” SLACs but needed the merit aid that Kenyon offers - like kids going to Case or Grinnell or Oberlin. Bright kids whose families can afford $50-$60k tuition but not $80k. Is this no longer true?

It may be partially true. Merit packages are as high as $25k and something like 1/4 get merit. I think in some cases the merit money makes the difference; I personally don’t think a Bates or Colby have a stronger student body or offer a better education in any way, so why not take the discount? But obviously a lot of kids are full pay or getting smaller merit discounts. Not that many kids are getting the large merit award (maybe 10 pct?)

I get your point re: Bates but I think the point of comparison is similar-level schools offering merit: Kenyon does not compare favorably any longer to Oberlin, Conn College, and Macalester in that regard, in part because of its higher tuition (so why not take the discount and avoid Kenyon?). I even wonder if Kenyon has the highest tuition in the country; certainly it would be top 5.

I should say, though, that way more than 1/4 of kids with no financial need at any of these schools are getting merit. As an applicant, I would only pay attention to schools offering merit to a minimum of 50% of non-need kids. Sometimes school names are bandied about as “offering merit” when it is only to around 15% of non-need kids. For selecting which schools to apply to, these schools should be treated as no merit.

Numbers are obviously not for this admissions cycle but here they are for each school: https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/merit-aid

The Kenyon website says 43 pct get some need based aid, 65 pct get financial aid in general, and 1/4 get merit aid. I might deduce from that the 22 pct of students get merit aid only. So about 22/(100-43) or 38 pct of those who don’t qualify for need based aid receive merit aid.

It’s possible some of the other schools are more aggressive with merit scholarships. Kenyon’s endowment has grown significantly in the past few years so perhaps it will become more competitive with merit in the future. Very few northeastern SLACs do merit (Conn is an exception among NESCACs) so it’s a good way to draw top students out to Ohio.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always assume kids going to Kenyon likely got into the “1st tier” SLACs but needed the merit aid that Kenyon offers - like kids going to Case or Grinnell or Oberlin. Bright kids whose families can afford $50-$60k tuition but not $80k. Is this no longer true?

It may be partially true. Merit packages are as high as $25k and something like 1/4 get merit. I think in some cases the merit money makes the difference; I personally don’t think a Bates or Colby have a stronger student body or offer a better education in any way, so why not take the discount? But obviously a lot of kids are full pay or getting smaller merit discounts. Not that many kids are getting the large merit award (maybe 10 pct?)

I get your point re: Bates but I think the point of comparison is similar-level schools offering merit: Kenyon does not compare favorably any longer to Oberlin, Conn College, and Macalester in that regard, in part because of its higher tuition (so why not take the discount and avoid Kenyon?). I even wonder if Kenyon has the highest tuition in the country; certainly it would be top 5.

I should say, though, that way more than 1/4 of kids with no financial need at any of these schools are getting merit. As an applicant, I would only pay attention to schools offering merit to a minimum of 50% of non-need kids. Sometimes school names are bandied about as “offering merit” when it is only to around 15% of non-need kids. For selecting which schools to apply to, these schools should be treated as no merit.

Numbers are obviously not for this admissions cycle but here they are for each school: https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/merit-aid

Anonymous wrote:If your DMV DC accepted an offer of admission at Kenyon this year, how much if any aid did you get, or are you full pay?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always assume kids going to Kenyon likely got into the “1st tier” SLACs but needed the merit aid that Kenyon offers - like kids going to Case or Grinnell or Oberlin. Bright kids whose families can afford $50-$60k tuition but not $80k. Is this no longer true?

It may be partially true. Merit packages are as high as $25k and something like 1/4 get merit. I think in some cases the merit money makes the difference; I personally don’t think a Bates or Colby have a stronger student body or offer a better education in any way, so why not take the discount? But obviously a lot of kids are full pay or getting smaller merit discounts. Not that many kids are getting the large merit award (maybe 10 pct?)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your DMV DC accepted an offer of admission at Kenyon this year, how much if any aid did you get, or are you full pay?

Non-DMV but accepted ED, full pay, no merit

Anonymous wrote:I always assume kids going to Kenyon likely got into the “1st tier” SLACs but needed the merit aid that Kenyon offers - like kids going to Case or Grinnell or Oberlin. Bright kids whose families can afford $50-$60k tuition but not $80k. Is this no longer true?

Anonymous wrote:I always assume kids going to Kenyon likely got into the “1st tier” SLACs but needed the merit aid that Kenyon offers - like kids going to Case or Grinnell or Oberlin. Bright kids whose families can afford $50-$60k tuition but not $80k. Is this no longer true?

Anonymous wrote:I always assume kids going to Kenyon likely got into the “1st tier” SLACs but needed the merit aid that Kenyon offers - like kids going to Case or Grinnell or Oberlin. Bright kids whose families can afford $50-$60k tuition but not $80k. Is this no longer true?

Anonymous wrote:If your DMV DC accepted an offer of admission at Kenyon this year, how much if any aid did you get, or are you full pay?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon is a SLAC that says all the right things about being progressive and a vehicle for social change, but at the end of the day is a pit stop for top 1% per center HHI kids who did not get into Amherst or Williams, before inevitably pursuing a JD or MBA at a top ten money maker institution.

That NYT piece on median family income really stuck to Kenyon for some reason but in truth it’s demographic profile is not much different from any other SLAC in its peer group- some a little higher, some a little lower. Shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that more well to do parents tend to send their kids to $85k/yr liberal arts colleges.

It's also the NYT piece on percent of students from the top 1%--Kenyon is in the top 10 of all schools with percent of students coming from families in the top 1% so its demographic profile *is* different than a lot of SLACs--it's richer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon is a SLAC that says all the right things about being progressive and a vehicle for social change, but at the end of the day is a pit stop for top 1% per center HHI kids who did not get into Amherst or Williams, before inevitably pursuing a JD or MBA at a top ten money maker institution.

That NYT piece on median family income really stuck to Kenyon for some reason but in truth it’s demographic profile is not much different from any other SLAC in its peer group- some a little higher, some a little lower. Shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that more well to do parents tend to send their kids to $85k/yr liberal arts colleges.

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon is a SLAC that says all the right things about being progressive and a vehicle for social change, but at the end of the day is a pit stop for top 1% per center HHI kids who did not get into Amherst or Williams, before inevitably pursuing a JD or MBA at a top ten money maker institution.