One of the biggest challenges when deciding which colleges to apply to is affordability. Merit scholarships can make the difference between a college being affordable or out of reach, and many scholarships come directly from the colleges themselves. To help, I reviewed the websites of over 100 colleges and compiled their merit scholarship details in a Google Sheet (link below). The colleges included are state flagships and those ranked in the USNWR Top 100.
Merit scholarships in this document are defined as awards that do not consider financial need. The goal is to provide options for families who may not qualify for need-based financial aid but find full tuition or out-of-state fees unaffordable.
Why Merit Scholarships?
Colleges offer merit scholarships to attract top-tier students who might otherwise choose more selective institutions. While Ivy League schools and some elite colleges offer no merit scholarships, many others, like Duke and Vanderbilt, use merit aid to entice talented students. State flagships also often provide significant merit scholarships to their strongest applicants.
Note: Need-based financial aid remains an excellent option for many families and may result in a lower cost overall, depending on the college.
Feedback is welcome regarding format, usability, and additional colleges you’d like to see included. The current limit is 150 colleges to keep updates manageable.
Nice resource! Consider using conditional formatting to make it easier to follow. Highlighting entire rows or adding alternating colors could improve usability.
Jess said:
Nice resource! Consider using conditional formatting to make it easier to follow. Highlighting entire rows or adding alternating colors could improve usability.
This is helpful, but it mostly includes large universities and a few select smaller schools. There are many other schools like RPI or CWRU that could be included. What’s your selection criteria?
Lin said:
This is helpful, but it mostly includes large universities and a few select smaller schools. There are many other schools like RPI or CWRU that could be included. What’s your selection criteria?
The criteria were USNWR Top 100 colleges and all state flagships. I had to draw a line somewhere to keep updates manageable. Expanding too much would make annual updates impractical.