Tuition Exchange / Merrit Question

SLUProf
Mon, 17 Dec 2018 22:54:51 +0000

I’ve learned a lot about the tuition exchange in the last few years. One thing I didn’t know before is that many colleges treat tuition exchange as another competitive scholarship that they are able to give out. I remember researching one college (Occidental?) that said they gave 2 scholarships per year, out of 80 applicants. As a general, but not fully accurate rule, the more selective and/or popular a college is, the harder it is to get the tuition exchange benefit. Many of the most desirable colleges also only give the set rate, which leaves quite a bit (typically between 25K and 40K) in cost of attendance for the parents to cover. I also found that many of the colleges will offer merit aid similar to their TE benefit.

That said, there are also some real gems that offer full tuition scholarships to a good percentage of students: Trinity University in San Antonio, Saint Louis U (if you forgive me saying so!), Syracuse (though that may be changing), Gustavus Adolphus, Austin College…

If you are seriously considering this, I would study the list of colleges on tuition exchange very carefully in order to determine whether it will really be a benefit for you. I spent a lot of time getting a spreadsheet with information on TE colleges in one place. You can find it here: