PSAT cutoff

clapuma
Sun, 10 Jun 2012 11:37:53 +0000

I was searching for some more PSAT data this morning and stumbled upon a 1969 annual report for the NMSC. It shows the National Merit scholarship was $1000 back then. It doesn’t sound like much until you consider the following…

1969-70 to 1972-73 Data

Average total 4 year tuition & fees
Public Private
1,997 6,638

$1,000 as % of 4 year tuition and fees
Public Private
50.08% 15.06%



2008-09 to 2011-12 Data

Average total 4 year tuition & fees
Public Private
$30,299 $110,025

$2,500 as % of 4 year tuition and fees
Public Private
8.25% 2.27%

While every dollar helps, National Merit scholarships certainly have far less impact than they used to. They now cover the tuition for the cost of about 1 class in 1 semester at the average private university and maybe 3 classes at a state university. (The half or full tuition breaks a handful of schools provide to NMSF are, of course, a huge benefit. But school choice is limited.)