1
Carleton College
MN · Acceptance Rate: 16%
Avg. Merit Award: $40,000
Top Award: $48,000
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $63,750
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Top 20 Colleges for Merit Aid
Colleges that award the largest merit scholarships, ranked by average award amount.
How we ranked these schools
Schools are ranked by the average maximum award amount across all published merit scholarship tiers in our database. Only schools with at least one published merit scholarship program are included. Data sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics (the federal government's education data authority), Princeton Review, Niche, and My School List's own school database. All figures reflect the most recently available data and are updated periodically. Rankings are for informational purposes only.
2
Hamilton College
NY · Acceptance Rate: 12%
Avg. Merit Award: $40,000
Top Award: $48,000
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $63,750
3
Washington and Lee University
VA · Acceptance Rate: 17%
Avg. Merit Award: $40,000
Top Award: $40,000
Merit Tiers: 1
Tuition: $59,355
4
Colorado College
CO · Acceptance Rate: 13%
Avg. Merit Award: $40,000
Top Award: $48,000
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $64,134
5
Harvey Mudd College
CA · Acceptance Rate: 13%
Avg. Merit Award: $39,500
Top Award: $47,500
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $63,468
6
Bates College
ME · Acceptance Rate: 14%
Avg. Merit Award: $39,250
Top Award: $47,000
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $62,720
7
Boston College
MA · Acceptance Rate: 16%
Avg. Merit Award: $39,250
Top Award: $47,000
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $62,950
8
Pitzer College
CA · Acceptance Rate: 15%
Avg. Merit Award: $38,750
Top Award: $46,500
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $61,736
9
Simon's Rock
MA · Acceptance Rate: 85%
Avg. Merit Award: $38,000
Top Award: $45,500
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $60,798
10
St. John's College
MD · Acceptance Rate: 72%
Avg. Merit Award: $37,500
Top Award: $45,000
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $59,838
11
University of Notre Dame
IN · Acceptance Rate: 13%
Avg. Merit Award: $37,500
Top Award: $45,000
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $60,301
12
Olin College of Engineering
MA · Acceptance Rate: 16%
Avg. Merit Award: $37,000
Top Award: $44,500
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $59,340
13
Peabody Institute
MD · Acceptance Rate: 12%
Avg. Merit Award: $35,750
Top Award: $43,000
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $57,010
14
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
CA · Acceptance Rate: 35%
Avg. Merit Award: $35,000
Top Award: $42,000
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $55,960
15
Mannes School of Music
NY · Acceptance Rate: 35%
Avg. Merit Award: $35,000
Top Award: $42,000
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $56,020
16
New England Conservatory
MA · Acceptance Rate: 30%
Avg. Merit Award: $34,750
Top Award: $41,500
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $55,650
17
Manhattan School of Music
NY · Acceptance Rate: 38%
Avg. Merit Award: $33,750
Top Award: $40,500
Merit Tiers: 2
Tuition: $53,800
18
Reed College
OR · Acceptance Rate: 41%
Avg. Merit Award: $32,833
Top Award: $47,500
Merit Tiers: 3
Tuition: $63,530
19
Pepperdine University
CA · Acceptance Rate: 37%
Avg. Merit Award: $32,667
Top Award: $47,500
Merit Tiers: 3
Tuition: $63,160
20
Franklin & Marshall College
PA · Acceptance Rate: 30%
Avg. Merit Award: $32,500
Top Award: $47,000
Merit Tiers: 3
Tuition: $62,850
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