Top Universities for Financial Aid

There’s a piece up on “CNBC” about top universities for financial aid.

There’s a piece on “CNBC” by Jessica Dickler entitled “Top colleges for financial aid” that we figured we’d share on the pages of our college admissions blog. Because why not? The piece focuses on a ranking conducted by “The Princeton Review” on the colleges, both public and private, that measures universities by how much financial aid is awarded to students as well as students’ satisfaction with their financial aid packages. And, yes, we do believe these two inputs make a whole lot of sense in a ranking of the top universities for financial aid.

As reported in the “CNBC” piece, “Surprisingly, the schools that fared the best were all private schools, many of which have sky-high prices, but their very generous aid packages bring the total cost way down. ‘Don’t base your decision on sticker price alone,’ said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief and author of “Colleges That Pay You Back.” When it comes to offering financial aid, private schools typically have more money to spend, he said. ‘A private school might end up being more affordable than a typical public college in your state.'” The data agrees. We agree.

So which schools are among the top universities for financial aid, according to this survey? Coming in fifth is Haverford College. Taking fourth? That would be Colgate University. Princeton University made the top three. Vassar College came in as the runner-up. And the top university for financial aid, based on this survey of “The Princeton Review”? Well, that would be…drum roll please…Pomona College. Congratulations to Pomona!

While you’re here, check out a piece we wrote recently concerning misconceptions surrounding financial aid and applying Early Decision or Early Action.