<p>What? Merit aid was part of why Brandeis made it to DD’s final list. Well, DD really likes it and I think it’s good, but I really cheered it along because of the likely merit aid. It is the only school we visited in the Boston area. It was one of the VERY few great schools with merit aid. Our state school’s honors program here in Montana is starting to look a lot more appealing. Even if reducing merit aid increases yield, some other favorable thing will decrease.</p>