Colleges That Meet Full Need—Need Advice

Hi everyone, I'm a junior and I'm starting to stress about how I can afford college. I know that some schools meet 100% demonstrated need. Can anyone tell me more about these colleges? How does that typically work?

Sure, happy to clarify this for you! "Colleges that meet full need" means that these institutions commit to covering the full demonstrated financial need of their admitted students. This is usually a combination of grants, scholarships, work-study, and loans. However, the exact package can vary from student to student, and some colleges strive to minimize or even eliminate loans from their financial aid packages.

To clarify, "demonstrated need" is the difference between the Cost of Attendance (CoA) at a college—which includes tuition, room and board, books, and other expenses—and your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is determined by the info you provide on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Note that starting from 2023, EFC is replaced by the Student Aid Index (SAI), but it serves a similar purpose.

There are around 60 colleges in the U.S. that claim to meet 100% demonstrated need, and most of them are selective private institutions. Some well-known examples include all eight Ivy League schools, Stanford University, MIT, and many top liberal arts colleges like Amherst and Williams.

Keep in mind that admission at these schools tends to be quite competitive. However, their generous financial aid policies mean that if you're admitted, your family will be expected to contribute what the school calculates you can afford based on your financial situation. And even though this can sometimes lead to 'sticker shock' (the published CoA might seem high), in practice these schools can often be more affordable than public universities for students with high financial need.

To know how much financial aid you might receive, you can use the Net Price Calculator on each school’s website. It will ask you for your financial details and then estimate the amount of aid you could receive if admitted.

Lastly, it's worth mentioning that financial aid can vary quite a lot from one college to another, so it's important to do your due diligence and research each institution's policies carefully.