<p>Northwestern meets full need, as determined through FAFSA and CSS Profile and evaluated by the school (as is always the case in private institutions.) And if your income is under a certain threshold there are no loans. Loans are capped at something like 20K for a four year program, I believe, for all other students receiving assistance. I don’t know about any of the other schools on the OP’s list. And financial aid is a completely different animal than merit aid.</p>