lkf725

Case has a well-known engineering department, great merit aid and a "one door" admission policy. Maybe check it out.

Any geographical region in mind? Some top chemE programs I have listed in an older Gourman Report are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Berkley, Cal Tech, Stanford, Delaware, MIT, Illinois, Houston and Purdue. I don't know if the data is still relevant, but it might be a place to start.

robileez

Look at Santa Clara University and Arizona State (Bartlett honors)

mia305

The claremont colleges, Mudd, CMC, scripps (but not pomona), give merit scholarships ranging from 10K per year (fairly common) to full tuition (a handful). Top credentials are needed. Cooper Union is free if you can get in. Tulane purportedly is increasing money because it is having difficulty attracting students to New Orleans. Tulane is still beautiful by the way. I have also heard that the midwestern lacs are fairly good.

taxguy

Both University of Maryland and especially Towson University ( which is part of the Maryland state university system) give out a lot of scholarship money,which includes possible full tuition.

I do know that both Pittsburgh and Miami, Syracuse and RIT give some very good merit aid. In fact, many of the better private schools ( other than the top 1%) usually give out merit aid.

You might even be able to get merit aid from some of the top private schools. We know of one kid who got a complete free ride to Carnegie Mellon. They are known to give out merit scholarsips if you are top notch for the school that you are applying to. We met an Asian girl from Ohio who turned down her instate university to study design at CMU. They gave her enough aid to equal what she would have paid to attend her state university. In fact, she stated that she came out a bit ahead. I think she got this aid because art and design students don't normally get very high SATs, and her SATs were in the top 10-20% of the design students.

jerzgrlmom

Taxguy states "I think she got this aid because art and design students don't normally get very high SATs, and her SATs were in the top 10-20% of the design students."

I agree. My DD got a merit award at RIT from the School of Design and there was a SAT requirement to be eligible. I believe up to 10 kids can get these awards. After freshman year, she was given another merit award, based on GPA, I believe - this one I believe is from her department. So, academics do play a role for design students. My DD was also offered a nice merit scholarship ($12,000/yr I think) from Syracuse University. If I remember correctly, that also was based on portfolio, GPA and SATs.

UMiami does offer some nice merit scholarships. The minimum requirements are posted right on their website, so you have a good idea ahead of time if you are eligible - not sure if they're automatically guaranteed though. My son was offered the Singer Scholarship, which is full tuition.

Narcissa

does UChicago, UMich, Wisconsin-Madison, Rutgers, Northwestern and NYU give any money for NMSF?

DangerMouse

Both Villanova and Boston College annually award Presidential (100% tuition) scholarships. Applicants must be Early Action (much better option than ED), and must be accepted to the respective Honors program. In January, each school invites selected finalists to a 3-4 day visit that includes interviews, attending classes, and group activities; this past year, these were held in February. Each school invited about 60 finalists; BC awarded about 15 scholarships, and Villanova awarded about 30. Final award notifications are in late February or early March. Highly recommended option for well-qualified candidates - both are excellent schools.

geezermom

Don't overlook the alumni association scholarships that some colleges and universities offer, often through local chapters. They're not just for children of alums. My son applied for and received a small but much appreciated annual merit-based scholarship from his school's alumni association (enough to cover books and transportation, I'm guessing). I don't remember how I came across the information, but it was not obvious on the web site. Ask the financial aid offices, or go to the association websites.

dudedad

There are no guarantees if you meet the minimum criteria for U of Miami (Florida) scholarships. Completely at their discretion.

jorr08

there are several scholarships at Brandeis University

The largest is Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship which is tuition, room, board, books, fees, and personal expenses.

theredsmileyface

Everyone keeps saying "U of Michigan -- Ann Arbor" which I find curious. UM is one of the Public Ivies, isn't it? because I researched it last year for its great academics, and then crossed off my list because it was waaayyyy out of our price range. :O Do they really have good aid packages?

theredsmileyface

Also if you qualify for WUE, that's a fantastic deal. I live in the shadow of the Rockies, so I'm safe Yay price knockoffs!

jaf1991

WUE is great, but only if the school you want to attend participates. Example, University of Arizona is listed on the WICHE website, but ASU is not. So you'd probably want to check with each school before making any assumptions.

bclintonk

Michigan does offer a limited number of merit-based aid packages, some of them quite generous, some University-wide and some specific to a particular school. If you're at the very top of the heap of the entering class you may have a shot at a good package; otherwise they're not known for being generous. For details:

University of Michigan Office of Financial Aid: Application Information

bclintonk

Here's a list, based on US News data, of colleges that give substantial (average > $10K/yr) merit aid to a large (>20%) fraction of the entering class:

SCHOOL/AVE MERIT AWARD /% RECEIVING MERIT AID

LACs:

Occidental $15,576 26%
Kenyon $12,212 23%
Ohio Wesleyan $12,872 42%
Willamette $10,115 31%
Denison $13,233 51%
Franklin & Marshall $14,084 25%
DePauw $12,158 49%
Grinnell $10,463 33%
Drew $11,584 32%
Rhodes $10,421 39%
Coll. of Wooster $13,017 43%
Agnes Scott $12,801 31%
Wofford $10,944 25%
Presbyterian Coll (SC) $11,143 34%
Randolph $14,696 34%
Furman $11,228 31%
Wittenberg $13,287 26%
Beloit $11,972 30%
Maryville Coll. $11,403 22%
Knox $10,314 30%
Allegheny $10,900 29%
Oglethorpe $11,362 28%
Juniata $12,609 26%
Goucher $13,682 31%
Cornell Coll. (IA) $11,345 23%
Sewanee-U. of the South $11,871 22%
Albion $11,824 38%
Wabash $12,030 25%
Centre Coll. $11,194 36%
Roanoke $10,537 23%
Randolph-Macon $13,057 39%
Hampden-Sydney $16,999 51%
Alma $13,726 21%
Susquehanna $14,681 29%
Hollins $10,825 28%
Millsaps $14,212 41%
Wartburg $14,172 23%
Hanover $15,588 34%
Moravian $13,068 21%
Transylvania $12,157 37%
Washington Coll. (MD) $10,310 40%
Hendrix $16,106 41%
Centenary (LA) $10,070 29%
Concordia-Moorhead (MN) $10,705 28%
Berry Coll. (GA) $14,526 41%
Sweet Briar $11,150 49%
Peace Coll. (NC) $11,594 28%
Gordon Coll. (MA) $12,705 29%
Wisconsin Lutheran $11,600 22%
Lyon Coll (AR) $11,549 28%
Wesleyan Coll. (GA) $$13,889 38%

Universities:

George Washington $20,155 23%
Pepperdine $15,601 26%
Case Western Reserve $12,657 31%
Tulane $19,423 32%
Rensselaer Polytechnic $15,000 24%
Brandeis $19,915 22%
U Miami (FL) $15,668 23%
SMU $11,453 34%
Clark U $14,131 25%
U Tulsa $11,346 36%
Stevens Inst of Tech $12,046 20%
Miami U (OH) $11,864 39%
Northeastern $12,975 23%

Some caveats:
1. Obviously these cut-offs are arbitrary. Some schools give generous merit aid to just under 20% of their students; others give slightly less than $10,000 to a large fraction of their students. Research these for yourself on the US News website.
2. Some of these schools do not meet 100% of financial need. In some cases this may mean they're electing to give merit aid to highly qualified but financially better off students at the expense of students with real financial need. In other cases they may simply be choosing among the students with demonstrated financial need by awarding a limited pool of financial aid money on a competitive "merit" basis.
3. Using an arbitrary $10,000 figure may provide a distorted picture of cost, given tuition differentials among schools. In particular, a nominally smaller award at a public institution may be more valuable than a nominally far more generous award at a private school. For example, the University of Minnesota-Morris, a very good public LAC, gives an average merit award of $3,120 to 20% of its students, but in-state tuition and fees (also available to Wisconsin residents) are only $5,003, leaving the average in-state merit aid recipient less than $2,000 short of the full cost of tuition and fees. In contrast, the average merit aid award at Grinnell, a private school, is $10,463, leaving the average merit award recipient almost $25,000 short of Grinnell's $35,428 in tuition and fees.