<p>^ Those are very high amounts, so your step-nephew is fortunate. The average merit scholarship at Vanderbilt is about $25K/year. Vanderbilt awards merit aid to approximately 9% of incoming freshmen (139 of 1600 for 2011-12). The total amount of merit aid they award must be one of the highest among top 20 national universities. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt does not have a linguistics department. They offer a few related courses under anthropology and other departments.</p>