Top 30 Colleges With The Largest Merit Scholarships

HomeFinanceFinancial aidTop 30 Colleges With The Largest Merit ScholarshipsThis page may contain affiliate links.Oct 22, 2019If youre a family that wont qualify for need-based aid, its time to start looking for colleges with merit scholarships. Merit-based aid is money colleges award that is not based on any financial need. These scholarships are usually awarded based on academic performance and sometimes based on special talents. Colleges With The Largest Merit Scholarships We did a quick sort of our College Data Spreadsheet to find college with merit scholarships and ranked them by the amount of merit aid they gave to freshmen who did not have any financial need (as determined by the college). Our College Data Spreadsheet has information on merit awards, from compiling Common Data Set information that colleges publish on their websites. Unfortunately, not all colleges make this information public, so our college list may not be completely inclusive of all the appropriate schools. But for the purpose of giving a glimpse into the top colleges with merit awards, this is a good start. The list below was put together based solely on the average amount of merit scholarships offered to freshmen. Top 10 Colleges With The Largest Merit Scholarships Name % Freshmen w/out need Receiving Merit Aid (18 19) Avg Merit Award for Freshmen Without Need (18 19) Duke University 6% $ 74,447 Washington and Lee University 11% $45,742 Swarthmore College 3% $43,252 Hollins University 100% $35,233 Wesleyan University 2% $35,118 Beloit College 100% $34,507 Bard College 6% $33,601 Albion College 100% $32,013 Hartwick College 96% $31,302 Clarkson University 89% $30,928 Its important to remember that just because a college offers a large average merit award, it doesnt mean a lot of students receive them. So youll need to also research how many students actually receive the award. The percentage of freshmen who receive merit-based awards who do not have financial need varies greatly on the list from a low of 2% to a high of 100%. If youre interested in researching and finding more colleges with generous merit scholarships, check out our College Data Spreadsheet, with extensive information on over 1500 colleges. You can use the spreadsheet to sort, filter, and compare colleges based on over 50 pieces of data. Get The College Data Spreadsheet Top 30 Colleges With Largest Merit Scholarships Temporary table description NameStateSAT (CR+M) 75th Percentile (18-19)ACT Composite 75th Percentile (18 - 19)% Freshmen without need% Freshmen w/out need Receiving Merit Aid (18 - 19)Avg Merit Award for Freshmen Without Need (18 - 19) Stetson UniversityFL13002922%86%$28,490 Luther CollegeIA13052818%99%$28,490 The College of WoosterOH13803027%90%$28,650 Millsaps CollegeMS12602824%100%$28,812 Coe CollegeIA13262812%96%$28,957 Washington & Jefferson CollegePA13202913%100%$29,014 Lafayette CollegePA14353262%5%$29,253 Agnes Scott CollegeGA13202919%100%$29,405 Allegheny CollegePA13403018%95%$29.497 Emory UniversityGAn/a3351%10%$29,911 University of RichmondVA14603361%18%$30,325 Clarkson UniversityNY13503016%89%$30,928 Hartwick CollegeNY11002614%96%$31,302 Albion CollegeMI12402614%100%$32,013 Bard CollegeNYn/an/a25%6%$33,601 Beloit CollegeWI13602929%100%$34,507 Wesleyan UniversityCT15003459%2%$35,118 Hollins UniversityVA12952823%100%$35,233 Swarthmore CollegePA15403445%3%$43,252 Washington and Lee UniversityVA14903350%11%$45,742 Duke UniversityNC03553%6%$74,447 Southern Methodist UniversityTX03265%69%$27,685 Ursinus CollegePA13202820%96%$27,820 Randolph CollegeVA11902517%86%$27,894 Spelman CollegeGA12152615%4%$27,973 Wake Forest UniversityNC14403270%4%$28,107 Kalamazoo CollegeMI13703125%98%$28,109 Howard UniversityDC02719%50%$28,263 Wabash CollegeIN13302818%100%$28,340 Bellarmine UniversityKY12702813%97%$28,405 #footable_13610 td.ninja_column_1 { text-align: center; }#footable_13610 th.ninja_column_1 { text-align: center; }