Intellectual Community + Merit Aid

College Search & Lists
8

First, be sure to run Chicago’s online net price calculator. You may be eligible for a little more aid than you think.
For a family earning $150,000 with 2 children, $75K in checking/savings and another $75K in investments, Chicago’s NPC shows me a net price of $44,035 (after $20,200 in grant aid and $2,200 in “self help”). YMMV.

That aid (a little less than half tuition) still may not be enough aid to make it affordable. Other colleges that seem to meet your criteria (“intellectual” + merit) include:
Grinnell
Mt. Holyoke (women only)
Smith (women only)
Davidson

These are LACs, less selective than Chicago, that claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need and also award an average of $15K or more in merit aid to at least 10% of incoming freshmen. You might have a shot at merit aid greater than Chicago’s possible ~$20K from one of these schools*. Somewhat less selective LACs that may offer more merit aid than more selective schools to someone with your stats include:
Lawrence University
Beloit
Rhodes
Centre
College of Wooster
(“Colleges That Change Lives” members)

Universities than may meet your criteria include Case Western, Brandeis, George Washington, Clark, and American U. None of these schools claim to meet full need, but all offer merit aid averaging at least $15K to at least 10% of incoming freshmen (so you might have a shot at more than Chicago’s possible ~$20K from one of these schools.) Vanderbilt and USC are “full need” universities that offer relatively large amounts of merit aid (but are more selective).

Sources:
http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts&state_code=ALL&id=none&sortby=ug_ft_nn_noneed_d&sortorder=DESC

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2014/09/15/colleges-and-universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need

  • A $15K merit scholarship will help you if it is added to the ~$20K you might get in n-b aid. If it only displaces that need-based aid, and is not greater than the n-b aid you'd otherwise get, it won't.

As suggested above, big state flagships that guarantee big merit scholarships for specific stats (such as Alabama) may come out with lower net costs than any of the above. However, if a school like Grinnell turns out to be do-able, you may decide it is worth some price premium over a bigger, less selective school.