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30 Colleges That Meet All Financial Need


How do you get the most from your financial aid package? Look at schools that pledge to meet all of your college financial need!

Some colleges offer need-blind admission, meaning they don’t look at your financial need while reviewing your application. But if these schools accept you, there’s no guarantee that they’ll meet your college financial need if you are eligible for financial aid.

But there are some schools that claim to provide all the financial assistance to meet the demonstrated financial need for accepted students. Although they are more the exception than the rule, these colleges take the extra step toward helping you graduate debt-free.

Check out this list of 30 schools who are known for their college financial assistance, and for meeting 100% of financial need.

Colleges and Universities

City and State

Amherst College

Amherst, MA

Bowdoin College

Brunswick, ME

Brown University

Providence, RI

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA

Claremont McKenna College

Claremont, CA

Colby College

Waterville, ME

Columbia University

New York, NY

Connecticut College

New London, CT

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

Davidson College

Davidson, NC

Duke University

Durham, NC

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Haverford College

Haverford, PA

Lafayette College

Easton, PA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Oberlin College

Oberlin, OH

Pomona College

Claremont, CA

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

Rice University

Houston, TX

Stanford University

Palo Alto, CA

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, PA

Tufts University

Medford, MA

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

Vassar College

Poughkeepsie, NY

Wesleyan University

Middletown, CT

Williams College

Williamstown, MA

Yale University

New Haven, CT

How is Your College Financial Need Determined?

Although all of these colleges claim give you enough financial assistance to meet your college financial need, remember that your “need” is determined in different ways.

Through the information on your FAFSA, the federal government calculates an “expected family contribution” that it believes each family can afford to contribute toward tuition each semester.

Schools that claim to meet full demonstrated college financial need often pledge to give financial assistance that covers the rest of tuition. But some schools calculate their own expected family contribution for each student, which can be higher and less affordable.

The 30 schools on this list promise to pay for the cost of tuition left over after the expected family contribution. Although the schools listed here provide this money almost exclusively through work study programs and grants, which you don’t have to pay back, many others make up the difference with loans.

There are other schools besides these 30 that pledge to meet all demonstrated college financial need for their students. Check out the financial aid policies at the schools on your college list to see what financial assistance they offer!



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