I used College Transition’s Dataverse Merit Aid aggregator (last updated November 2025) to pull these numbers for the schools on your list in terms of the percentage of freshmen without need receiving merit aid and what that average award was. The list is sorted from lowest post-merit COA to highest.
| School | Cost of Attendance | Percent of freshmen without need receiving merit aid | Average merit award (freshmen without need) | COA after Average Merit award for freshmen without need |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitt | $40,904 | 9% | $8,027 | $32,877 |
| Purdue-West Lafayette | $42,254 | 22% | $5,821 | $36,433 |
| U. of Alabama - Tuscaloosa | $55,886 | 36% | $19,109 | $36,777 |
| UNC-Charlotte | $40,122 | 14% | $3,231 | $36,891 |
| Penn State | $43,146 | 6% | $5,764 | $37,382 |
| Cooper Union | $70,442 | NR | $24,225 | $46,217 |
| U. of Cincinnati | $53,744 | 26% | $6,387 | $47,357 |
| Clemson | $54,150 | 24% | $4,905 | $49,245 |
| U. of Kentucky | $58,778 | 36% | $8,345 | $50,433 |
| U. of Maryland | $60,809 | 21% | $7,827 | $52,982 |
| Uconn | $64,100 | 25% | $11,091 | $53,009 |
| Oregon State | $62,541 | 42% | $9,250 | $53,291 |
| Ohio State | $61,815 | 26% | $7,425 | $54,390 |
| Virginia Tech | $61,088 | 11% | $3,288 | $57,800 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | $81,354 | 27% | $22,755 | $58,599 |
| Case Western | $92,750 | 37% | $30,499 | $62,251 |
| Drexel | $86,243 | 25% | $23,607 | $62,636 |
| Stevens | $87,926 | 29% | $24,345 | $63,581 |
| Northeastern | $94,137 | 13% | $16,112 | $78,025 |
| Cornell | $96,268 | 0% | $0 | $96,268 |
For the schools’ whose COA is higher than $51k, then I’d look and see which ones have scholarships for which you would be eligible to compete that can get you below the $50k mark, and then also try and determine the likelihood of getting it. U. of Maryland, for instance, has the Banneker/Key scholarship which can be half tuition or full ride. If you were to receive either, that would make UMD affordable. U. of Oregon has the Stamps, which would provide free nonresident tuition, but not Oregon State. Those scholarships are extremely competitive to get, but there’s a way forward.
Some schools, however, may cap their merit scholarships at $25k or $35k or something else. Schools that cost $90k and give a max of $30k in merit won’t come in as affordable, so there’s no use applying to those. If the website doesn’t list a max award, reach out to your admission officer to see if they can do a merit aid pre-read or share the maximum amount of merit they offer.
As already mentioned, Cornell doesn’t offer merit aid. How many scholarships would you have to apply to in order to get $50k/year in outside scholarships? Is it really worth it in order to apply to Cornell?
Of the schools on the bottom half of the list, I’m particularly concerned about Virginia Tech, RIT, Drexel, and Northeastern meeting the price via merit aid, though schools like Stevens and Case would still be challenging to meet budget, but more likely than the others, IMO. Paging @OctoberKate who might have some perspective to share, particularly with Clemson and Virginia Tech.
A few notes about the table: I pulled the Tuscaloosa rate rather than the Huntsville one because it didn’t have Huntsville’s, and one site I read mentioned the strength of Tuscaloosa for motorsports/SAE. Additionally, the COA has some issues (see this short thread), but as a blunt tool it’s fine for right now.
Edited due to misstatement about Oregon State having the Stamps.