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The Princeton Review Financial Aid Honor Roll

By Mitch Gross | August 13, 2009

 

Princeton Review recently released "The Best 371 Colleges" which included their 2010 Financial Aid Honor Roll. The list salutes 13 institutions that received the highest possible score. Most of these schools cover 100% of need-based aid and mostly in the form of grants/scholorships. However, some of these schools have relatively low acceptance rates given their academic and financial reputations. Most of these schools are on the smaller side, based on total undergrads. Acceptance rates below are for the 2008-2009 school year and are available on the College Board website. That said, some of the rates changed with the upcoming 2009-2010 class. You can likely find out the rates by visiting the websites for each college.For example, Claremon McKenna College acceptance rate dropped 6 ppts or 38% to 16%.

 

The Princeton Review's Honor Roll list includes(in alphabetical order):


American Jewish University (Bel Air CA); Acceptance rate = 65%
Beloit College (Beloit, WI); 63%
Bowdoin College (Brunswick ME); 19%
California Institute of Technology (Pasadena CA); 17%
Claremont McKenna College (Claremont CA); 22%
Gettysburg College (Gettysburg PA); 38%
Harvard College (Cambridge MA); 8%
Lake Forest College (Lake Forest IL)
Swarthmore College (Swarthmore PA); 16%
Thomas Aquinas College (Santa Paula CA); 64%
Wabash College (Crawfordsville IN); 48%
Washington University in St. Louis (MO); 22%
Williams College (Williamstown MA); 17%

 

I'm not a huge advocate of the the "best" colleges lists regularly published every year by Princeton Review, US News, etc, because choosing a school is so subjective and there are so many variables. However, you can't argue with the financial aid honor roll list, as knowing where the money is, is essential if you're seeking need-based aid in the form of institutional grants. In many cases, a private school education can be cheaper than a state school if you're the right student, well positioned to receive aid and know where the money is.