Top 30 Colleges with the Largest Merit Scholarships
If you’re a family that won’t qualify for need-based aid, it’s time to start looking for colleges with merit scholarships.
Merit-based aid is money colleges award that is not based on any financial need.
These scholarships are usually awarded based on academic performance and sometimes based on special talents.
Colleges with the Largest Merit Scholarships
We did a quick sort of our College Insights tool to find college with merit scholarships and ranked them by the amount of merit aid they gave to freshmen who did not have any financial need (as determined by the college).
Our College Insights tool has information on merit awards, from compiling Common Data Set information that colleges publish on their websites.
Unfortunately, not all colleges make this information public, so our college list may not be completely inclusive of all the appropriate schools.
But for the purpose of giving a glimpse into the top colleges with merit awards, this is a good start. The list below was put together based solely on the average amount of merit scholarships offered to freshmen.
Top 10 Colleges With The Largest Merit Scholarships
| Name | % Freshmen w/out need Receiving Merit Aid (18 – 19) | Avg Merit Award for Freshmen Without Need (18 – 19) |
|
6% | $ 74,447 |
|
11% | $45,742 |
|
3% | $43,252 |
|
100% | $35,233 |
|
2% | $35,118 |
|
100% | $34,507 |
|
6% | $33,601 |
|
100% | $32,013 |
|
96% | $31,302 |
|
89% | $30,928 |
It’s important to remember that just because a college offers a large average merit award, it doesn’t mean a lot of students receive them.
So you’ll need to also research how many students actually receive the award.
The percentage of freshmen who receive merit-based awards who do not have financial need varies greatly on the list – from a low of 2% to a high of 100%.
If you’re interested in researching and finding more colleges with generous merit scholarships, check out our College Insights tool, with extensive information on over 1500 colleges. You can use the spreadsheet to sort, filter, and compare colleges based on over 50 pieces of data.
Top 30 Colleges With Largest Merit Scholarships
Temporary table description
| Name | State | SAT (CR+M) 75th Percentile (18-19) | ACT Composite 75th Percentile (18 - 19) | % Freshmen without need | % Freshmen w/out need Receiving Merit Aid (18 - 19) | Avg Merit Award for Freshmen Without Need (18 - 19) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stetson University | FL | 1300 | 29 | 22% | 86% | $28,490 |
| Luther College | IA | 1305 | 28 | 18% | 99% | $28,490 |
| The College of Wooster | OH | 1380 | 30 | 27% | 90% | $28,650 |
| Millsaps College | MS | 1260 | 28 | 24% | 100% | $28,812 |
| Coe College | IA | 1326 | 28 | 12% | 96% | $28,957 |
| Washington & Jefferson College | PA | 1320 | 29 | 13% | 100% | $29,014 |
| Lafayette College | PA | 1435 | 32 | 62% | 5% | $29,253 |
| Agnes Scott College | GA | 1320 | 29 | 19% | 100% | $29,405 |
| Allegheny College | PA | 1340 | 30 | 18% | 95% | $29.497 |
| Emory University | GA | n/a | 33 | 51% | 10% | $29,911 |
| University of Richmond | VA | 1460 | 33 | 61% | 18% | $30,325 |
| Clarkson University | NY | 1350 | 30 | 16% | 89% | $30,928 |
| Hartwick College | NY | 1100 | 26 | 14% | 96% | $31,302 |
| Albion College | MI | 1240 | 26 | 14% | 100% | $32,013 |
| Bard College | NY | n/a | n/a | 25% | 6% | $33,601 |
| Beloit College | WI | 1360 | 29 | 29% | 100% | $34,507 |
| Wesleyan University | CT | 1500 | 34 | 59% | 2% | $35,118 |
| Hollins University | VA | 1295 | 28 | 23% | 100% | $35,233 |
| Swarthmore College | PA | 1540 | 34 | 45% | 3% | $43,252 |
| Washington and Lee University | VA | 1490 | 33 | 50% | 11% | $45,742 |
| Duke University | NC | 0 | 35 | 53% | 6% | $74,447 |
| Southern Methodist University | TX | 0 | 32 | 65% | 69% | $27,685 |
| Ursinus College | PA | 1320 | 28 | 20% | 96% | $27,820 |
| Randolph College | VA | 1190 | 25 | 17% | 86% | $27,894 |
| Spelman College | GA | 1215 | 26 | 15% | 4% | $27,973 |
| Wake Forest University | NC | 1440 | 32 | 70% | 4% | $28,107 |
| Kalamazoo College | MI | 1370 | 31 | 25% | 98% | $28,109 |
| Howard University | DC | 0 | 27 | 19% | 50% | $28,263 |
| Wabash College | IN | 1330 | 28 | 18% | 100% | $28,340 |
| Bellarmine University | KY | 1270 | 28 | 13% | 97% | $28,405 |
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