<p>Princeton Review recently ranked UVA as the #1 best value public college in America and #2 as the best for financial aid. Can anyone comment on this (particularly the financial aid)? What kind of financial aid do most students receive, merit or need-based? I know about the Jefferson’s Scholarship, but that’s too selective to be a major factor in this rank. I’m applying from out of state, so I’m very curious. Thanks!</p>
<p>I would send a link of the Princeton Review, but it seems like the site is down…? Sorry.</p>
<p>Most aid is need-based, with the exception of the Jefferson Scholars Program, which is extremely selective. The new Access UVA plan makes aid available in the form of outright grants to needy students, rather than loans. I think there’s a full description on the UVA website. It’s more generous than most state schools’ aid programs but not as generous as the top Ivies’, e.g. Harvard’s or Princeton’s. On the other hand, in order to get aid from Harvard, you have to be admitted there . . .</p>
<p>There is no merit-base aid other than the Jefferson Scholars Program, which again, is HIGHLY selective.</p>
<p>Searching the forum for “financial aid” or “access uva” will do wonders for you here. FinAid is a big topic on here</p>
<p>There are some schools/departments that have money that they give out based on merit and there are a few other scholarships that aren’t purely need based, but we don’t discount tuition along with our admission offers, which is probably what most people are referring to when they use the term “merit money”.</p>
<p>Financial aid is great at a lot of schools if you fall in the lower income bracket. Like most schools, UVA falls short of assisting the middle class (particularly if you’re OOS). I was shocked when I saw that rank, to be honest.</p>
<p>Don’t want to give away personal financial info on here, but feel free to message me for more info. Would have attended UVA a few years ago, but didn’t receive any aid, and my parents were already paying full tuition for a sibling (combined, it would have cost them around 75 - 80k/yr). My dad is a teacher and my mom works part time, so that was not something we could afford. </p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that colleges also take into account remaining debts, house and car payments, etc. So financial aid is somewhat of a paradox. Those who make less money but who have less to pay off are not necessarily in better shape for aid than those who make a good living, but still have college loans, etc. This is one of the complaints of the college financial aid system, i/e that you can ‘play the system.’ We have a family friend who is a successful surgeon, and makes a very good living, but his kid is still receiving financial aid because he purposely postponed paying off med school loans for a longer time so that he wouldn’t have to pay as much for her college. The system is flawed, but its the game they play, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Kudos if it does work out, though, UVA is a great school!</p>