Top 10 Public Colleges Giving Out the Most Merit Scholarships

Public Colleges With Most Merit Scholarships

Top 10 Public Colleges Giving Out the Most Merit Scholarships

Published November 7, 2019 | Last Updated February 6th, 2024 at 09:43 am

Public Colleges With Most Merit Scholarships

It might come as a surprise to some parents that public universities do give out merit scholarships.

We decided to look at merit scholarships awarded by public universities. In general, these awards tend to be smaller compared to private colleges, but so is the cost to attend at public universities vs. private schools (at least if you receive instate tuition).

Using our R2C Insights tool, we filtered schools by public status and then sorted them based on the size of the average merit aid award given to students without any financial need.

Public Colleges With the Most Merit Scholarships

  • Virginia Military Institute
  • University of Vermont
  • Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • University of Alabama
  • Coastal Carolina University
  • University of California–Merced
  • New Jersey Institute of Technology
  • William & Mary
  • Miami University
  • College of Charleston

Listed below are the top 10 schools that award the largest average merit aid amounts to students without financial need, along with the percent of students without need who receive merit scholarships.

This list was based on Common Data Set information that schools publish on their websites.

What’s interesting is range of percentages of how many students receive merit scholarships, ranging from 4% to a high of 95%.

In addition to looking at the average merit scholarship amount, it’s also important to review graduation rates, SAT/ACT 75th percentile, % of students without need receiving merit awards, and in-state and out-of-state costs.

It’s important to remember that just because a college offers merit aid, it doesn’t mean they offer it to a large percentage of students without need.

In addition, it’s important to consider graduation rates. Most schools only offer merit aid for four years, so graduating in five years or longer can add significant expense.

Our data is based on 2023 – 2024 Common Data Set files.

 

Top 10 Public Colleges with the Most Merit Scholarships

NameState% Freshmen w/out need Receiving Merit AidAvg Merit Award for Freshmen w/out need
Virginia Military InstituteVA30%$27,001
University of VermontVT95%$16,722
Missouri Institute of Science and TechnologyMO94%$15,939
The University of AlabamaAL69%$15,587
Coastal Carolina UniversitySC88%$14,894
University of California-MercedCA11%$14,132
New Jersey Institute of TechnologyNJ59%$14,023
William & MaryVA4%$13,846
Miami UniversityOH88%$12,845
College of CharlestonSC70%$12,479

 

Find Merit Aid. Build the Perfect College List.

R2C Insights helps students and parents search, find, and compare over 2,000 colleges.

Filter the information that’s most important to your student as you work together to find merit scholarships and build your perfect college list.

Search by:

  • academic stats (GPA, test scores)
  • admissions stats (early and regular decision, yield)
  • cost of attendance
  • crowdsourced college offers from families
  • deadlines (early and regular decision, financial aid)
  • location
  • major
  • merit-based aid from colleges
  • need-based aid
  • race/ethnicity
  • school size
  • 4 year graduation rates
  • and much more…

Having this information all in one place saves you time otherwise spent searching individual college websites.

It also gives you the ability to filter, sort, and compare ANY criteria or combination of criteria that’s important to your family.

You can quickly and easily use R2C Insights to find colleges where your student is at or above the 75th percentile of applicants and more likely to receive merit scholarships.

Create a free R2C Insights Account and explore college data and merit scholarships for yourself.

CREATE A FREE ACCOUNT

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Other Articles You Might Like:

“What Exactly Is ‘Good Merit’ and How Do I Keep It Once I’ve Got It?”

Colleges Offering Merit Aid to 95%+ of Students Without Need

How My Daughter Got $53,000 a Year in Merit and Financial Aid Plus More in Private Scholarships

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