I’ve been thinking a lot about that question as my D26 gets more interested in St. Olaf. And to take it a step further, why is Olaf so much cheaper/more generous than virtually any other LAC? Carleton’s financial aid program is comparable to other selective LACs that give no merit aid, with the exception that it doesn’t consider home equity so need-based awards are likely even more generous for many middle-class families. But for our middle-class family with 250k home equity, Olaf is 10k/yr cheaper than Carleton and most other LACs…and yet they also give substantial merit awards to wealthier students. In fact, they guarantee 20k/yr minimum merit for ED applicants. With just a ~225k-per-student endowment in the latest NACUBO endowment chart I could find (FY 2022) - fine, but less than half of Carleton, Colby, and Vassar - I’m not sure how they are doing this. It’s Ivy-esque need-based aid with mid-tier-LAC-esque merit aid, simultaneously.
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