84 Best Bet Public Universities for Meeting Financial Need

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(Based on some readers comments, I just want to clarify that the schools on this list at the end of the post are only “Best Bets” for residents of the state. Out-of-state students shouldn’t expect any financial assistance from these schools.) If there is a list of the top three things families entering the college search process must know, one of them would have to be that very few colleges meet 100% of need. Just because the federal government and the institution recognize a specific amount of need doesn’t mean the student will receive a matching amount of financial aid. This is why lists of colleges that meet 100% of need are very popular.

Unfortunately, schools on such lists are generally some of the most competitive colleges in the nation. Since most are private, such lists provide further evidence that private schools are more likely to meet financial need than public schools. Out of 60 something colleges that claim to meet 100% of need, only four are public institutions.

According to CollegeData.com, there are only four public colleges that meet 100% of need: Northeastern State University (OK), Southern University at New Orleans, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Virginia. A total of 30 public colleges report meeting 90% or more of student need.

The problem is that only five of these colleges have five-year graduation rates of 50% or better. There are 13 that have five-year graduation rates of 25% or less. Of the four schools with graduation rates over 80%, the University of Virginia has only 11% of freshman receiving Pell Grants and the University of North Carolina has only 20%. Yet, these two institutions had the highest average endowment per student out of all of the schools.

Furthermore, despite meeting an average of 90% or more of need, eight colleges have an average net price of $10,000 or greater for students with family incomes of $30,000 or less. This should serve as a reminder that when colleges report the percentage of need met, they include subsidized loans as part of the aid used to meet need. The average net price is calculated after deducting awarded gift aid only.

If you just go by colleges meeting 100% of need, private institutions would seem to be outperforming their public counterparts. However, if you look at the 430 colleges that have an average net price of $10,000 or less for students with a family income of $30,000 or less, 366 are public schools.

Since the most expensive degree is the one you don’t complete, I checked for colleges with a 50% or better graduation rate using the 4-year rate for private schools and the 5-year rate for public. Of the 127 schools remaining on the list, 84 are public. Among the public schools, the acceptance rates ranged from a low of 18% to a high of 97% with 57 schools have a 50% or better acceptance rate. Among the private colleges, the acceptance rates ranged from 6% to 75% with only three schools reporting accepting 50% or more of applicants.

So if you don’t like your chances of getting into one of the private colleges that meet 100% of need, you might consider one of the 84 public institutions listed in the table below.

The list isn’t perfect. To start with, 20 states don’t have any schools on this list. Then there are the 17 colleges and universities that have 20% or fewer of freshman receiving Pell Grants which makes you wonder how accessible these schools really are despite their acceptance rates. And based on the percentage of freshman receiving institutional aid, for many on the list the lower average net price has more to do with federal and state aid and lower tuition than institutional grants. Consider the list as a place for student with financial need to start exploring the possibilities of public colleges likely to meet their need.

Public Universities and Colleges Most Likely to Meet Need
(Average Net Price for Income $30,000 is $10,000 or Less and
5-Year Graduation Rate is 50% or more)
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Name	State	Full-time Under- grads	5 yr Grad Rate	% Admitted	% Freshman Receiving Pell Grants	Avg Net Price Family Income $0-$30,000	% Freshman Receiving Institutional Grants
United States Merchant Marine Academy	NY	958	74		10	-769	0
Texas A & M University-College Station	TX	39641	75	69	26	3174	58
Indiana University-Bloomington	IN	31050	74	72	19	4632	46
University of North Carolina School of the Arts	NC	781	59	45	27	4878	65
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	LA	22811	62	76	23	5049	50
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	NY	10396	60	25	46	5148	15
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	27316	88	33	14	5529	46
Virginia Military Institute	VA	1675	74	47	13	5571	65
University of Connecticut-Stamford	CT	924	59	41	40	5621	42
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill*	NC	17570	88	28	20	5729	46
University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	27050	78	55	22	6220	31
Michigan State University	MI	34838	74	69	21	6293	39
San Diego State University	CA	24037	59	31	34	6298	29
North Carolina State University at Raleigh	NC	21469	68	50	21	6456	52
Arizona State University-West	AZ	2694	50	76	47	6489	88
University of Virginia-Main Campus*	VA	15089	92	30	11	6591	26
University of Washington-Bothell Campus	WA	3432	61	76	39	6676	45
University of South Florida-Main Campus	FL	23734	57	45	42	6688	70
Appalachian State University	NC	15115	64	63	24	6845	34
New College of Florida	FL	793	64	61	25	7007	100
West Virginia University	WV	21027	53	85	26	7062	60
Massachusetts Maritime Academy	MA	1333	64	77	19	7115	53
University of North Carolina at Asheville	NC	3129	56	64	26	7134	59
Purdue University-Main Campus	IN	28659	64	60	19	7228	43
Rutgers University-Newark	NJ	5827	60	54	49	7286	35
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	GA	13291	76	55	14	7364	28
University of North Carolina at Greensboro	NC	12469	50	60	48	7392	54
University of California-Riverside	CA	18205	62	62	56	7651	76
The University of Texas at Austin	TX	36899	75	40	26	7667	43
St Mary's College of Maryland	MD	1762	78	72	12	7806	58
Clemson University	SC	16050	79	58	16	7815	65
University of Maryland-College Park	MD	24522	82	47	15	7901	53
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	19799	62	72	30	7908	57
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	IL	31516	82	62	21	7954	42
University of North Carolina Wilmington	NC	11408	68	54	21	7958	43
University of Georgia	GA	24746	80	56	21	8004	18
University of California-Irvine	CA	23127	84	42	48	8096	65
University of Florida*	FL	30314	83	47	29	8111	32
The College of New Jersey	NJ	6455	82	43	19	8167	45
Arizona State University-Tempe	AZ	34989	55	80	29	8246	85
University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	28568	79	68	13	8306	37
University of Minnesota-Morris	MN	1815	61	58	34	8312	82
SUNY College at Brockport	NY	6411	64	48	38	8389	64
SUNY College at Plattsburgh	NY	5186	58	46	34	8392	76
University of California-Berkeley*	CA	25220	89	18	27	8506	58
East Carolina University	NC	18500	52	62	32	8583	39
Stony Brook University	NY	14892	63	39	34	8585	54
Truman State University	MO	5375	70	72	23	8600	98
Iowa State University	IA	26177	63	83	21	8653	75
The Evergreen State College	WA	3766	53	97	32	8687	73
Arizona State University-Polytechnic	AZ	2789	51	75	31	8701	74
University of Minnesota-Duluth	MN	8989	54	78	25	8731	60
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire	WI	9508	60	76	26	8765	41
University of Arkansas	AR	18565	55	59	22	8801	35
The University of Texas at Dallas	TX	10635	59	59	26	8801	72
Western Washington University*	WA	12942	64	84	23	8859	36
University of California-San Diego	CA	23152	81	38	30	8861	51
Central Washington University	WA	8996	50	82	36	8866	59
University of California-Los Angeles	CA	28084	88	22	31	8883	51
State University of New York at New Paltz	NY	6060	68	44	29	9002	45
SUNY Oneonta	NY	5675	69	51	27	9046	50
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point	WI	8650	52	83	31	9095	9
Ball State University	IN	15128	56	61	35	9178	46
University at Buffalo	NY	18091	68	57	31	9181	27
Ramapo College of New Jersey	NJ	4992	71	55	23	9199	33
Michigan Technological University	MI	5198	58	77	28	9204	92
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse	WI	9188	62	72	20	9291	20
University of Delaware	DE	16852	79	65	14	9409	51
Towson University	MD	16588	61	60	22	9455	34
Texas Tech University	TX	24338	54	66	24	9468	41
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	28940	72	44	21	9535	51
University of California-Santa Barbara	CA	19076	79	44	41	9546	62
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh Valley	PA	719	51	85	41	9559	47
University of California-Davis	CA	25826	77	45	37	9573	67
University of Illinois at Chicago	IL	15402	51	71	54	9618	65
Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	17793	55	76	27	9677	72
University of Kentucky	KY	19884	55	69	25	9743	59
Radford University	VA	8545	56	78	26	9789	19
Texas State University	TX	25683	51	75	36	9859	6
University of Northern Iowa	IA	9330	62	83	25	9891	59
Colorado State University-Fort Collins	CO	20400	59	77	24	9898	45
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	18058	61	31	14	9938	31
SUNY College at Oswego	NY	6954	56	49	40	9951	44
University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	15323	69	60	51	9989	71

*indicates schools that reported meeting on average 90% or more of freshman need.

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84 Best Bet Public Universities for Meeting Financial Need

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