​55 Colleges that do Not Give Merit Awards (or very limited) This list should be used for families who qualify for need based aid, and have high achieving students.  If the family does NOT qualify for aid, these colleges are most likely 'full price'.  Most colleges on this list fill 100% of need, but remember, you must have 'need'.  If a college is not on this list, they most likely offer merit awards. The range for colleges that give merit awards are in the range of $2,000 to $20,000, but most are in the $15K range.  If you use the "Net Price Calculators", you can often receive an estimate of the merit award.

Paying for College without going Broke Presentation Slides (Sample)  PDF of all slides for a 45 minutes talk on College Affordability.


Colleges that require the CSS Profile, the more complex financial aid form the best way to see the most updated list of colleges that require the CSS Profile form is to go to:


 Recommended Reading for parents and students (Paula's favorites)  


Listing of Colleges that give need based aid and merit awards To rotate the worksheet to be horizontal, there is a 'rotate' icon on the top of the worksheet.
 
Colleges that Participate in the Western Undergraduate Exchange Program (WUE) where students of participating states only pay 1.5 times the in-state tuition rates for schools on the list.   Example: At University of Montana, Washington residents pay 1.5x their in-state tuition of $5,150 to equal $7,725 instead of the true out-of-state tuition of $16,425.  Big savings. Caution: Check school's eligibility requirements. Varies by school.
 
Equity in Home used by colleges This worksheet shows how colleges that use the CSS Profile form assesses the family's home equity (current market value less outstanding mortgage) in the financial aid formula.  This equity is added to cash/savings/investments.


 Don't Forget: to calculate your SAI (Student Aid Index at: https://www.mefa.org/student-aid-index-sai-calculator#efc  This is the dollar amount that the FAFSA formula thinks you can pay for college (using the FAFSA formula).
 
Another excellent tool is to try the "Net Price Calculators" on each college's website. It gives you an idea of a potential financial aid award a family might expect from the school. Try the NPC for Seattle University, Willamette, Univ of Portland and Stanford, as they are pretty accurate. To find the Net Price Calculators, go to the college's main web page and enter "Net Price Calculator" in the search field. All colleges are required to have this calculator on their websites.

 Please send an email to paula@paulabishop.com if you have questions.


During my presentations on Paying for College without going Broke  I refer to the reference materials below that I hope you will use during your college search.

Start the Process


After reading through the information on this website and you would like to proceed, please complete the contact form by clicking here I would email the listing of questions for you to begin. Prior to the meeting, I spend several hours researching your situation so that I can tailor the discussion to your family's circumstances.