"At least 41 percent of full-time students at each of these schools received merit scholarships in fall 2017, U.S. News data show.
The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.
Many colleges and universities offer discounts and scholarships to students who don’t have a demonstrated financial need in the form of merit aid.
These awards are often granted to students based on a specific talent or academic ability. For instance, National Merit Finalists or National Hispanic Scholars may receive special scholarship opportunities at participating institutions." …
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/colleges-that-give-merit-aid-to-the-most-students
Sounds like the college financial aid version of “everyone gets a trophy.” If nearly half the full time students are receiving a “merit” scholarship, what does that mean for the definition of the word merit?
^^ or that they would happily have a lower “list price” bit that they have found it doesn’t play well with the market - for whatever reason.
Merit aid opens up college possibilities for students who have worked hard their entire academic career. In our school system, students start taking advanced classes as early as 5th grade. Without a specific sequence of courses completed, they aren’t allowed to take AP and other honors classes. This means these kids have worked hard from elementary school onward. If you’re top 1% in the nation academically, I would hope there would be merit aid. We should celebrate and reward high achievement in classroom (other areas certainly get rewarded).