If you’re a family that won’t qualify for need-based aid, it’s time to start looking for colleges with the best merit scholarships. Colleges give this merit aid based on academic performance and sometimes on special talents like sports and music. This article lists the top merit aid colleges and explains how to find ones that best fit your situation.

We used our R2C Insights tool to find colleges 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).

R2C Insights has a lot of data on merit awards that can help you build a smart college list. The data in the two tables below comes from the Common Data Set, which R2C Insights breaks down for users. The tool also provides our crowdsourcing of actual financial aid offers.

Top 20 Colleges That Award the Largest Merit Scholarships

Name	% Freshmen w/out Need Receiving Merit Aid (2022-23)	Avg Merit Aid for Freshmen w/out Need (2022-23)
Duke University	3	$78,610
Swarthmore College	1	$45,110
Washington and Lee University	11	$43,818
University of Richmond	31	$42,538
Beloit College	99	$41,660
Bard College	10	$40,474
Albion College	100	$39,697
Johns Hopkins University	10	$39,328
The University of Tulsa	83	$39,152
Susquehanna University	98	$36,317
Kalamazoo College	96	$36,009
Clarkson University	100	$35,794
Davidson College	6	$35,549
Washington & Jefferson College	100	$34,857
Georgetown College	63	$34,280
The College of Wooster	98	$33,902
Washington College	100	$33,834
Babson College	6	$33,519
Wheaton College (MA)	50	$33,421
University of Redlands	50	$33,389

It’s important to remember that just because a college offers a large average merit award, it doesn’t mean many students receive it. Consequently, you’ll need to research how many students actually receive the award.

R2C Insights can help you discover schools that are generous with merit scholarships and fit the criteria most important to your student. You’ll not only save precious time, but they’ll avoid the heartache of applying to schools they aren’t likely to get into or can’t afford to attend. Create a free trial R2C Insights account here.

For the second chart, we selected colleges giving the most merit scholarships to at least half of freshmen without financial need. Also, keep in mind that much of this aid is renewable in subsequent years.

Top 30 Colleges for Merit Aid to at Least 50% of Freshman Without Need

Name	State	SAT 75th Percentile (2022-23)	ACT 75th Percentile (2022-23)	% Freshmen w/out Need Receiving Merit Aid (2022-23)	Avg Merit Aid for Freshmen w/out Need (2022-23)
Beloit College	WI	1360	31	99%	$41,660
Albion College	MI	NA	NA	100%	$39,697
The University of Tulsa	OK	1360	30	83%	$39,152
Susquehanna University	PA	1250	28	98%	$36,317
Kalamazoo College	MI	1200	26	96%	$36,009
Clarkson University	NY	1360	30	100%	$35,794
Washington & Jefferson College	PA	1290	31	100%	$34,857
Georgetown College	KY	1210	24	63%	$34,280
The College of Wooster	OH	1430	32	98%	$33,902
Washington College	MD	1370	29	100%	$33,834
Wheaton College (MA)	MA	1340	33	50%	$33,421
University of Redlands	CA	1300	29	50%	$33,389
Ursinus College	PA	1370	32	97%	$33,247
Coe College	IA	1270	28	98%	$33,182
Simpson College	IA	1440	33	100%	$32,534
Lebanon Valley College	PA	1278	31	98%	$32,257
Centre College	KY	1380	32	98%	$32,217
St. Catherine University	MN	1170	25	96%	$32,101
Wabash College	IN	1320	30	100%	$31,853
Lawrence University	WI	1440	32	99%	$31,503
Widener University	PA	1270	29	97%	$31,300
Agnes Scott College	GA	1340	31	100%	$31,127
Cornell College	IA	1320	30	99%	$30,950
Ohio Wesleyan University	OH	1323	29	99%	$30,854
Hollins University	VA	1330	30	100%	$30,658
Illinois Wesleyan University	IL	1330	30	93%	$30,636
Whittier College	CA	1290	30	95%	$30,466
Lycoming College	PA	1250	25	98%	$30,445
Whitworth University	WA	1330	27	97%	$30,430
Ripon College	WI	NA	NA	97%	$30,216

______