College and Universities that meet 100% need

Colleges and Universities That Meet 100% of Need

To make the search easier, here are the schools that I know of that meet 100% of financial need for all or most of its students. If you are aware of others, please let me know.
Also on the list I included schools that meet at least 93% of need for the majority of its students.

1. Amherst College (MA)
2. Austin College (TX) 95%
3. Babson College (MA) 98%
4. Barnard College (NY)
5. Bates College (ME)
6. Beloit College (WI) 95%
7. Bentley University (MA) 94%
8. Boston College (MA)
9. Boston University (MA) 93%
10. Brandeis University (MA) 95%
11. Brown University (RI)
12. Bryn Mawr College (PA)
13. Bowdoin College (ME
14. California Institute of Technology
15. Carleton College (MN)
16. Claremont McKenna College (CA)
17. Clark University (MA) 93%
    
18. Colby College (ME)
19. Colgate University (NY)
20. College of the Holy Cross (MA)
21. College of Wooster (OH) 95%
    
22. Colorado College (CO)
23. Columbia University (NY)
24. Connecticut College (CT)
25. Cornell University (NY)
26. Davidson College (NC)
27. Dickinson College (PA) 99%
    
28. Duke University (NC)
29. Dartmouth College (NH)
30. Emory University (GA)
31. Franklin and Marshall College (PA)
32. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (MA)
33. Georgetown University (DC)
34. Grinnell College (IA)
35. Hamilton College (NY)
36. Harvey Mudd College (CA)
37. Haverford College (PA)
38. Harvard University (MA)
39. Johns Hopkins University (MD)
40. Kalamazoo College (MI) 94%
41. Kenyon College (OH)
42. Lafayette College (PA)
43. Lawrence University (WI) 97%
44. Lehigh University (PA) 95%
    
45. Macalester College (MN)
46. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
47. Middlebury College (VT)
48. Mount Holyoke College (MA)
49. Northwestern University (IL)
50. Oberlin College (OH)
51. Occidental College (CA)
52. Pitzer College (CA)
53. Pomona College (CA)
54. Princeton University (NJ)
55. Reed College (OR)
56. Rhodes College (TN) 93%
57. Rice University (TX)
58. Saint John’s College (NM) 93%
59. Saint Olaf College (MN) 99%
    
60. Scripps College (CA)
61. Smith College (MA)
62. Soka University of America (CA)
63. Stanford University (CA)
64. Swarthmore College (PA)
65. Syracuse University (NY) 96%
66. Thomas Aquinas College (CA)
67. Trinity College (CT)
68. Trinity University (TX) 98%
69. Tufts University (MA)
70. Tulane University (LA) 96%
    
71. Union College (NY)
72. University of Chicago (IL)
73. University of Notre Dame (IN)
74. University of Pennsylvania (PA)
75. University of Richmond (VA)
76. University of Rochester (NY) 97%
    
77. University of Southern California
78. University of Virginia
79. Vanderbilt University (TN)
80. Vassar College (NY)
81. Wabash College (IN) 93%
    
82. Wake Forest University (NC)
83. Washington and Lee University (VA)
84. Washington University, St. Louis, (MO)
85. Wellesley College (MA)
86. Wesleyan University (CT)
87. Whitman College (WA) 96%
88. Williams College (MA)
89. Yale University (CT)

What you’ll notice about the above list is that many of the schools are highly selective. Many of these schools can provide 100% of need because they are wealthier with bigger endowments than their peers, but also because the majority of students who attend these schools are typically high income.
With the wealthy children paying the sticker price or getting a modest merit scholarship, this generates more money for financial aid.

How Percentage of Need Met Works…

Let’s say the financial aid formula says your family can afford to pay $15,000 for one year of college. (That’s represented by your Expected Family Contribution.) Your child is lucky and gets into a $60,000 school that promises to meet 100% of its students’ financial need.  That means the school will provide $45,000 in aid.
Schools will look for outside help first to build that $45,000 package. If the child qualifies for the federal Pell Grant for low-income students and an applicable state grant, that will be put into the package first. Nearly all schools also put in a federal Direct Loan, which for freshman is $5,500. After that the school would kick in its own institutional money.
In this case, let’s assume the child doesn’t qualify for any state of federal grants at a school that meets 100% of need.
$60,000 Cost of Attendance
Minus            $15,000 Expected Family Contribution
Aid                 $45,000
After the Direct Loan is subtracted, the family would get nearly $40,000 in grants/scholarships (free money) to attend this school. Some of the most elite schools won’t put in a Direct Loan.
In contrast, the majority of schools in this country would “gap” a child. A school might provide $10,000 or $15,000 or $30,000 or even $0 dollars to meet this child’s need.