Listed below are colleges that meet 90% and more of a family’s demonstrated financial need.
This list was based solely on using publicly available Common Data Set information that schools publish on their websites.
It’s not surprising that many selective colleges are included in this list, as many of these schools promise to meet 100% of need.
In addition, there are schools that are generous with need-based aid and are not as highly selective in their admissions process.
n particular, 41 schools on the list meet 90% or more of need and also have admissions rates of 40% or more.
In addition to looking at the percent of need met and the average need-based aid, data on graduation rates, % admitted, total price (in-state prices listed for public schools), and average net price by income range are provided.
Keep in mind that even though a college may meet a high percentage of a family’s need, it is the college that also determines what a family’s need is.
Some schools use FAFSA to determine need, but 75% of the schools on this list ask families to fill out the CSS Profile.
The CSS Profile asks for additional information about a family’s financial situation.
Schools use this information, along with their own calculations, to determine how much a family can contribute towards college.
This amount may vary from your EFC.
Colleges Meeting 90% and More of Financial Need
Name State Abbr 4 yr
Grad Rate5 yr
Grad Rate% Ad-
mittedAvg % of
Need MetAvg Need
Based AwardTotal Price
(16-17)Avg Net Price
For Income
$48,001-$75,000Avg Net Price
For Income
$75,001-$110,000Avg Net Price
For Income
over $110,000
University of Pikeville KY 15 26 100 90 $18,081 $37,700 $20,476 $20,483 $20,153
Hendrix College AR 64 69 77 90 $34,350 $58,120 $19,313 $24,535 $27,815
University of North Florida FL 26 47 65 90 $6,515 $21,210 $13,535 $16,173 $19,244
Knox College IL 69 75 65 90 $31,323 $54,515 $20,635 $23,832 $29,758
University of Massachusetts-Lowell MA 32 52 61 90 $9,853 $29,002 $16,465 $19,120 $23,804
Whitman College WA 83 87 51 90 $32,417 $61,972 $21,821 $28,061 $43,539
Gettysburg College PA 84 86 43 90 $35,068 $64,500 $17,683 $26,782 $35,937
George Washington University DC 76 82 40 90 $32,167 $67,225 $26,883 $29,667 $44,178
American University DC 76 80 26 90 $30,045 $62,272 $26,394 $31,693 $46,282
Dalton State College GA 5 15 90 $3,500 $15,206 $11,250 $9,388 $10,645
Oral Roberts University OK 47 55 68 91 $17,314 $39,760 $20,853 $22,269 $25,267
Allegheny College PA 70 75 68 91 $36,480 $58,920 $21,123 $25,862 $30,943
DePauw University IN 78 83 65 91 $38,681 $60,888 $18,006 $22,112 $30,797
Sewanee-The University of the South TN 79 82 44 91 $28,705 $57,450 $20,042 $21,154 $35,101
Bucknell University PA 84 88 30 91 $29,200 $67,600 $24,514 $29,983 $46,785
Ithaca College NY 66 74 70 92 $28,655 $59,918 $30,696 $33,703 $40,717
Luther College IA 72 78 68 92 $30,804 $52,595 $22,099 $25,051 $28,416
Gustavus Adolphus College MN 78 79 65 92 $32,990 $54,280 $15,979 $25,476 $27,946
Westminster College MO 56 63 65 92 $18,575 $38,650 $19,507 $20,122 $22,512
San Jose State University CA 11 44 53 92 $12,461 $27,039 $15,681 $18,809 $22,068
Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology NY 26 53 92 $11,354 $45,405 $32,205 $25,315 $32,956
Albion College MI 61 70 72 93 $40,241 $54,150 $15,786 $24,740 $27,298
Clark University MA 71 75 55 93 $27,747 $53,350 $20,467 $20,750 $32,680
Fort Valley State University GA 8 20 26 93 $6,510 $20,044 $16,582 $18,681 $16,916
Valparaiso University IN 54 64 83 94 $28,968 $51,190 $19,566 $22,324 $25,873
Earlham College IN 65 69 58 94 $38,564 $57,870 $21,256 $21,635 $32,756
Rhodes College TN 76 79 54 94 $31,593 $59,754 $24,675 $24,824 $31,385
Beloit College WI 64 71 70 95 $32,586 $57,506 $9,213 $24,994 $19,701
Wheaton College MA 76 79 67 95 $32,620 $63,512 $27,031 $26,835 $36,365
Hampshire College MA 51 63 64 95 $38,891 $65,212 $22,643 $31,158 $44,324
Brandeis University MA 83 87 33 95 $40,150 $68,125 $26,730 $26,514 $48,839
Southwestern Oklahoma State University OK 17 29 91 96 $1,491 $19,518 $12,225 $13,827 $15,308
SUNY College at Potsdam NY 35 49 72 96 $9,812 $23,394 $17,231 $18,351 $20,818
Kalamazoo College MI 73 80 66 96 $34,678 $57,116 $17,916 $24,806 $31,198
Lawrence University WI 64 78 63 96 $36,619 $56,823 $21,074 $24,545 $32,056
Walla Walla University WA 24 46 62 96 $5,605 $38,133 $22,037 $23,966 $26,322
Southwestern University TX 66 71 45 96 $30,013 $52,650 $19,789 $25,045 $29,335
University of Miami FL 70 80 38 96 $32,486 $64,306 $23,046 $34,005 $37,351
Lehigh University PA 77 88 26 96 $41,234 $63,075 $18,432 $28,417 $45,419
Valdosta State University GA 16 32 65 97 $6,862 $20,403 $16,820 $16,828 $17,450
Wabash College IN 64 71 63 97 $34,044 $53,150 $16,151 $25,171 $30,573
Trinity University TX 68 76 41 97 $30,334 $54,714 $15,470 $25,211 $31,747
Northeastern State University OK 9 21 94 98 $7,417 $16,833 $10,389 $11,872 $12,283
Berea College KY 48 61 33 98 $31,803 $35,042 $6,805 $5,351 $34,980
Tulane University of Louisiana LA 72 82 26 98 $32,702 $67,114 $27,623 $31,907 $41,845
University of Florida FL 67 84 46 99 $7,711 $21,251 $8,732 $11,381 $16,950
St Olaf College MN 85 88 45 99 $32,991 $56,160 $15,816 $23,307 $34,295
Dickinson College PA 81 84 43 99 $40,052 $66,779 $17,286 $27,738 $41,768
University of Dayton OH 59 74 60 100 $28,208 $56,370 $25,546 $32,471 $32,428
Mount Holyoke College MA 78 83 52 100 $37,011 $61,206 $17,552 $25,012 $34,710
Occidental College CA 76 81 46 100 $41,801 $69,442 $17,877 $28,448 $44,977
Bryn Mawr College PA 78 82 40 100 $41,321 $66,160 $17,319 $26,616 $41,012
College of the Holy Cross MA 89 92 38 100 $36,511 $64,065 $17,426 $28,718 $44,629
Macalester College MN 84 87 37 100 $42,208 $64,007 $17,423 $24,111 $38,132
Union College NY 81 87 37 100 $36,393 $66,360 $20,847 $27,861 $41,037
Smith College MA 86 88 37 100 $43,839 $66,647 $17,814 $25,227 $41,073
Franklin and Marshall College PA 83 86 36 100 $44,761 $67,880 $16,408 $28,337 $45,393
Connecticut College CT 81 84 35 100 $39,698 $67,000 $23,651 $26,844 $42,811
Trinity College CT 80 84 34 100 $44,394 $68,940 $14,032 $23,584 $43,062
University of Richmond VA 84 88 32 100 $40,204 $63,040 $14,515 $24,851 $40,438
Reed College OR 66 76 31 100 $37,665 $67,250 $17,437 $22,565 $39,301
University of Virginia-Main Campus VA 88 93 30 100 $21,517 $31,186 $14,374 $21,964 $27,814
Scripps College CA 80 84 30 100 $35,730 $68,464 $22,738 $25,661 $42,350
Wake Forest University NC 84 87 30 100 $42,637 $66,512 $13,521 $29,042 $44,330
Northeastern University MA 0 83 29 100 $34,803 $65,503 $17,573 $31,239 $40,453
Wellesley College MA 83 89 29 100 $48,433 $65,966 $12,581 $22,141 $42,274
Colgate University NY 85 89 29 100 $48,355 $67,290 $17,589 $19,989 $42,628
Skidmore College NY 85 88 29 100 $41,900 $67,000 $15,261 $21,866 $47,352
Oberlin College OH 71 84 28 100 $37,998 $68,670 $24,134 $24,241 $42,076
Lafayette College PA 85 88 28 100 $44,113 $66,105 $21,404 $26,343 $46,329
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC 84 90 27 100 $17,240 $24,898 $12,074 $18,954 $23,197
Vassar College NY 87 90 27 100 $46,243 $67,740 $12,188 $18,427 $36,810
Kenyon College OH 89 90 27 100 $43,736 $66,670 $15,911 $23,146 $41,962
Hamilton College NY 89 91 26 100 $43,936 $65,750 $9,788 $20,882 $40,022
Washington and Lee University VA 88 89 24 100 $40,072 $63,500 $8,962 $17,605 $34,627
Carleton College MN 88 91 23 100 $42,019 $66,490 $14,682 $22,941 $38,398
Bates College ME 84 87 23 100 $44,063 $66,550 $12,108 $21,523 $38,977
Haverford College PA 86 90 21 100 $46,398 $69,387 $12,110 $25,956 $42,279
Grinnell College IA 81 84 20 100 $41,090 $63,838 $17,563 $22,792 $35,726
Davidson College NC 91 95 20 100 $43,859 $64,698 $11,982 $17,498 $39,244
Colby College ME 84 89 19 100 $43,762 $65,824 $17,088 $24,111 $37,890
University of Notre Dame IN 90 95 19 100 $39,044 $67,043 $14,893 $23,099 $40,922
Williams College MA 86 93 18 100 $50,286 $68,430 $10,448 $16,899 $42,003
Wesleyan University CT 87 91 18 100 $47,653 $67,527 $11,996 $25,474 $42,819
Barnard College NY 82 90 17 100 $46,876 $68,512 $16,092 $22,360 $41,048
Washington University in St Louis MO 88 93 17 100 $43,839 $69,754 $13,208 $28,458 $44,102
Georgetown University DC 90 94 17 100 $41,492 $69,313 $15,540 $23,967 $48,345
University of Southern California CA 77 90 17 100 $36,995 $69,711 $21,751 $32,515 $51,147
Middlebury College VT 85 92 16 100 $47,092 $66,332 $13,966 $17,448 $38,052
Colorado College CO 82 86 16 100 $47,140 $66,400 $4,349 $22,688 $44,605
Bowdoin College ME 89 94 15 100 $42,165 $65,590 $11,057 $19,367 $34,142
Rice University TX 83 91 15 100 $37,253 $60,518 $10,080 $22,683 $38,701
Pitzer College CA 83 87 14 100 $42,956 $68,192 $14,904 $22,781 $41,949
Amherst College MA 86 92 14 100 $52,482 $68,986 $13,268 $20,406 $43,142
Cornell University NY 87 93 14 100 $40,333 $67,613 $15,456 $26,486 $46,258
Tufts University MA 87 91 14 100 $42,971 $68,190 $18,872 $24,260 $47,538
Swarthmore College PA 88 93 13 100 $46,897 $66,549 $12,638 $23,368 $37,004
Harvey Mudd College CA 85 91 13 100 $41,649 $71,917 $25,102 $18,643 $42,967
Vanderbilt University TN 87 91 11 100 $48,559 $64,654 $8,451 $14,835 $32,921
Northwestern University IL 84 92 11 100 $42,976 $70,496 $12,763 $28,038 $40,222
Dartmouth College NH 88 95 11 100 $51,461 $69,474 $10,048 $19,568 $44,204
Duke University NC 86 93 11 100 $46,370 $69,169 $7,880 $25,085 $48,925
University of Pennsylvania PA 85 93 9 100 $45,711 $69,340 $12,322 $19,870 $37,370
Pomona College CA 92 97 9 100 $50,686 $67,357 $6,975 $13,363 $37,440
Claremont McKenna College CA 86 92 9 100 $49,208 $69,385 $18,096 $20,675 $43,992
Brown University RI 84 94 9 100 $43,186 $68,106 $12,697 $22,282 $44,695
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA 84 91 8 100 $42,351 $65,478 $8,633 $17,992 $42,237
California Institute of Technology CA 81 89 8 100 $44,074 $66,774 $6,781 $20,077 $42,977
Princeton University NJ 89 96 7 100 $49,870 $63,690 $4,557 $16,967 $32,706
Yale University CT 86 96 6 100 $52,831 $68,950 $6,551 $16,229 $36,367
Stanford University CA 75 89 5 100 $47,664 $66,696 $4,061 $18,212 $39,853
Harvard University MA 86 96 5 100 $47,053 $66,900 $6,577 $21,958 $44,238
Due to lack of consistent sources, the data in this chart is from multiple years. IPEDS data (graduation rate, total price, and average net price) is from ’16-’17. Common Data Set information (% of need met, average need aid) is from the most recent year of public available data. The information is based on freshmen amounts. Average net price is based on information for families that have filed FAFSA and may not be as representative of average net price for families with incomes greater than $110k if a large percent of higher income families have not filed FAFSA.ownload the List of Colleges Meeting 90% and More Financial Need
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