<p>According to Collegedata (great resource btw)</p>
<p>60.5% of freshman applicants are found to have financial need
99.2% of those get some aid
and the average percent of that need that is met is 62%</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1202”>https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1202</a></p>
<p>So, for students who have financial need and who don’t get merit aid, families will have to come up with 38% of the gap between need and what’s awarded. We found that to be consistent with our experience. But keep in mind that very few schools actually meet 100% of student need. You just have to compare the bottom line when all the offers are in.</p>
<p>Realize that the cost of attendance (COA) at Elon is far lower than many private schools. Our daughter was awarded $17k in need based aid from another private school, and very little at Elon, but Elon was still the better deal for us because the COA at that school was so much higher. Many schools have a very high COA and then subsidize the lower income students with the extra from the higher income students. Elon doesn’t do this, which I appreciate.</p>
<p>Elon’s success as a school is relatively new. The alumni base is young and there hasn’t been time to build a large endowment. I hope that soon, Elon will have the money to meet 100% of student need, but until then, we believe it’s worth the difference in cost for the experience our daughter is getting there. </p>