“Meet need” is based on each school’s definition of “need”, which can vary greatly from one school to another, and may not match what the student and family believe that they need.
Running the net price calculator on several schools on that list of “meet need” schools can show significant differences in net price for the same financial situation.
In other words, the claim to “meet need” is no guarantee of good financial aid, and the lack of such a claim is no guarantee of worse financial aid than that of a school claiming to “meet need”.