Inside The Top Private Schools With Generous Financial Aid Programs

Forbes

These colleges—spread from Pennsylvania to Kentucky to Michigan—discount their listed cost of attendance by at least 50% for all, or nearly all, students.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2025/08/26/25-private-schools-with-generous-financial-aid/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, 25 private schools with generous financial aid.

00:06College is more expensive than ever. That part is clear.

00:11But private college tuition is frustratingly opaque.

00:14The average sticker price at a four-year private college,

00:17before room, board, and other college-going expenses are factored in,

00:21in the 2024-25 academic year, was $43,350,

00:26a 3.9% increase over 2023-24 prices, according to the College Board.

00:34Yet at nearly every private college in the United States,

00:37few, if any, students are paying that price.

00:41For myriad reasons, prestige, enrollment competition,

00:45and student body diversity, to name a few,

00:48almost all private colleges charge a hefty sticker price

00:51and then effectively discount their tuition.

00:53At four-year private colleges in the 2024-25 academic year,

00:58the net price for tuition and fees,

01:00meaning the price students and families pay out-of-pocket

01:03after federal, state, and institutional grants, but not loans,

01:07are factored into the cost, was $16,510,

01:12$26,840 less than what the schools are posting on their online tuition pages.

01:17Put another way, the average tuition discount is a stunning 62%.

01:23There's a larger number that's also important.

01:27The total cost of attendance, or COA,

01:30which includes not only tuition and fees,

01:32but also room and board, books, transportation, and personal expenses.

01:36The average list COA was $62,990,

01:41while the average net COA was $36,150.

01:46That's a $26,840, or 43% discount.

01:52But every student pays a different net price,

01:54and determining in advance what yours will be isn't easy.

01:57As part of our annual Top Colleges Ranking that was released at the end of August,

02:03Forbes identified 25 schools that offer standout scholarship packages

02:07to first-time, full-time undergraduates.

02:10To determine which schools are the most generous,

02:13we looked at the percentage of students who receive at least some grant aid.

02:17At every school on the list, at least 95% of students receive aid,

02:21and at 20 of the schools, all students receive some aid.

02:25We also looked at which schools offered financial aid packages

02:29that paid for a significant chunk of the total cost of attendance.

02:33At all 25 schools, scholarships make up at least half of the annual cost to attend,

02:38with some paying for as much as 80%.

02:41All data is from the 2023-24 academic year,

02:45the latest made available by the Department of Education.

02:48Here are a few schools on our list.

02:51Washington and Jefferson College offers first-time, full-time undergraduates

02:55an average scholarship of $35,647,

03:00which covers more than 80% of the $44,295 annual cost of attendance.

03:06The Liberal Arts School enrolls only undergraduates

03:08and boasts a student-to-faculty ratio of 12 to 1.

03:12The college, which accepts about 80% of applicants,

03:15requires freshmen to complete a first-year seminar during the fall semester,

03:19which includes lectures, concerts, plays,

03:22and trips to museums or galleries based on a common theme.

03:26At Berea College in Kentucky, no student pays tuition.

03:31The tiny Liberal Arts College instead requires students to participate in a work-study program

03:35that requires at least 10 hours of work per week for the college.

03:39And qualifying jobs range from bussing tables at the college-owned Boone Tavern Hotel

03:44to crafting, to janitorial work, building management, and groundskeeping.

03:50Students receive an average scholarship of $41,626,

03:54which covers tuition and about 70% of the $60,718 cost of attendance.

04:00The Berea student body is quite diverse.

04:0419% of Berea students are black, 15% are Hispanic, 44% are white,

04:09and 8% come from outside the United States.

04:13Beloit College in Wisconsin offers all of its students some amount of financial aid.

04:18The average grant award is $41,931,

04:22which pays for 58% of the $71,959 cost of tuition.

04:27Beloit is Wisconsin's oldest college, founded in 1846,

04:33before Wisconsin was even a state.

04:35It maintains small class sizes.

04:37Most classes have 15 students,

04:39with one-third of all classes including 10 or fewer students.

04:43Popular majors include biology, psychology, and business and managerial economics,

04:49though the school is also well-known for its geology and anthropology programs.

04:54For full coverage and to see the whole list,

04:56check out Emma Whitford's piece on Forbes.com.

05:01This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

05:04Thanks for tuning in.

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