You can easily have a lot less to show for your college degree than someone else who develops a list of colleges that best gets them to their goal. Cost is often times not considered until the very end, after parents get the college list from their rising high school senior. Parents usually use the logic of: let the child decide where they would really like to go and see what happens.
Some of the best U.S. colleges boasting outstanding College Scorecard results consist of private institutions where you either have never heard the school name before or would not consider it because of the advertised cost. What I have found to be a tremendous help for a family is to have 3 categories of colleges on the list. First would be those you most aspire to attend for your own personal reason. Second category is the one having an outcome aimed toward yielding the balance between socially fitting in and one which fits you academically as well. Final consideration in the 3 categories will include both financial and academic safety schools. This means it fits in the affordability bucket and also checks off the I would like to be a student here even though it wasn’t my number one choice.
The best outcome any family could achieve is a combination of attending the college that inspires the student to achieve great things beyond the 4 years, be compensated well for their chosen profession, and getting far more value for what they pay to attend. With that in mind, it would be prudent for you to consider colleges that incorporate programs to enhance the learning experience on a campus such as those we are looking forward to mentioning. According to CNBC and the Princeton Review, colleges with the best financial aid:
1. Washington University in St. Louis—St. Louis
- 2024-25 tuition: $64,500
- Average net price: $23,432
- Percent of first-year students receiving any aid: 50%
- Average institutional grants and scholarships: $55,559
2. Thomas Aquinas College—Santa Paula, California
- 2024-25 tuition: $30,200
- Average net price: $24,217
- Percent of first-year students receiving any aid: 73%
- Average institutional grants and scholarships: $12,366
3. Skidmore College—Saratoga Springs, New York
- 2024-25 tuition: $67,140
- Average net price: $33,389
- Percent of first-year students receiving any aid: 65%
- Average institutional grants and scholarships: $43,558
4. College of the Atlantic—Bar Harbor, Maine
- 2024-25 tuition: $47,448
- Average net price: $22,316
- Percent of first-year students receiving any aid: 97%
- Average institutional grants and scholarships: $31,093
5. Wabash College—Crawfordsville, Indiana
- 2024-25 tuition: $49,800
- Average net price: $22,976
- Percent of first-year students receiving any aid: 100%
- Average institutional grants and scholarships: $34,885
6. Emory University—Atlanta
- 2024-25 tuition: $63,400
- Average net price: $26,680
- Percent of first-year students receiving any aid: 56%
- Average institutional grants and scholarships: $46,482
7. St. Olaf College—Northfield, Minnesota
- 2024-25 tuition: $59,760
- Average net price: $26,171
- Percent of first-year students receiving any aid: 99%
- Average institutional grants and scholarships: $37,940
8. Reed College—Portland, Oregon
- 2024-25 tuition: $69,040
- Average net price: $33,106
- Percent of first-year students receiving any aid: 64%
- Average institutional grants and scholarships: $46,794
9. Williams College—Williamstown, Massachusetts
- 2024-25 tuition: $68,240
- Average net price: $20,965
- Percent of first-year students receiving any aid: 55%
- Average institutional grants and scholarships: $55,371
10. Gettysburg College—Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
- 2024-25 tuition: $66,640
- Average net price: $33,882
- Percent of first-year students receiving any aid: 97%
- Average institutional grants and scholarships: $41,092
College Scorecard shows that the median earnings for University of Washington Graduates is $86,182. 88% of students who graduate from here earn more than a high school graduate. According to U.S. News & World Report their most popular major is Computer Science making up 11% of their student population.
Median earnings for Thomas Aquinas is $55,619. Focus on Liberal Arts and Sciences / Liberal Studies and retention rate is 92%! Students study the original works of history’s most influential authors, math, science, language, literature, philosophy, along with small, vigorous classroom discussions.
Median earnings for Skidmore College is $69,363. 74% earn more than a high school graduate. The most popular major students pursue is Social Sciences making up 18% followed by Business at 13%.
A little lower than other colleges, median earnings for College of the Atlantic is $40,264. Known for Liberal Arts and Humanities.
Wabash College boasts $69,952 for median earnings. 85% of graduates earn more than a high school graduate. Rhetoric and Composition, Economics, and Political Science make up the most popular majors.
$80,134 is the median earnings for Emory University. Most popular majors are Business Administration, Registered Nursing, and Biological Sciences.
St. Olaf College boasts a median earnings of $65,543 for their graduates. Social Sciences make up 18% of the student population while Biological and Biomedical Sciences account for 12%.
Reed college, where Steve Jobs attended has a median earnings of $62,927. Most popular majors are Political Science and Government followed by Research and Experimental Psychology.
Williams College, one that I wish more students from the west coast knew more about has a median earnings of $88,665 for their graduates. Economics and Psychology are the 2 most popular majors.
$71,517 is the median income for graduates from Gettysburg College. The mot popular major is Political Science and Government followed by Econometrics and Quantitative Economics.
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