Thanks to US News College Rankings, we know what are the “Best” 100 universities in the country. If you want to know specifically what they are best at, you can find out here. But how good are they at making sure that attending the “Best” University isn’t limited by economic need?
After all, despite the current economic situation, college graduates still make more money than high school graduates so a college degree is considered a ticket to the American Dream. And if you can get into one of US News College Rankings top 100 Universities–that should be a first class ticket.
So which of the top 100 are offering the most tickets to those with the most financial need?
How can we measure economic need?? By using Pell Grants. Most Pell Grants are given to students whose family income is less than $23,000 per year. Unfortunately, this accounts for around 17% of families according to the Census Bureau. Approximately 23% of all families make less than $30,000 a year.
How do the Best 100 Universities rank according the percentage of freshman receiving Pell Grants?
The 18 universities where 25% or more freshman receive Pell Grants? includes only three private institutions and no schools that are ranked in the top 20. In fact, only three of the 20 Best Universities even make it into the top 50 ranking of schools with the highest percentage of freshman receiving Pell Grants.
Given that the top 20 Best Universities have incredible financial resources, you have to wonder why the lower rankings for students with Pell Grants. Is it because that they couldn’t find enough qualified economically disadvantaged students? Or maybe they just think 15 percent or less is adequate representation of economically disadvantage for their class composition?
One possible reason is that some universities promise and deliver no-loan financial aid guarantees. This would certainly require a greater financial commitment than a university that just refers students to private lenders. One university is offering the ticket to more students but on credit where the other is offering it to fewer students but completely paid for.
Which situation is better? That assumes a choice most students don’t have.
But those trying to figure out where to send their four free SAT reports might find the table below interesting.
The following table lists US News Best 100 National Universities ranked by the percentage of freshman receiving Pell Grants. The financial information is from the Integrated Post-secondary Education System. All of this information is also available in the DIY College Rankings College Search Spreadsheet.
Percentage of Freshman Receiving Pell Grants
at Top 100 National Universities
Name National
RankType % Freshman
Receiving
Pell Grants% Freshman
Receiving
Institutional
GrantsAvg Amount
Institutional
Grants for
FreshmanAvg Net Price
Family Income $0-$30,000
University of California-San Diego 38 Public 47 61 5271 8715
University of California-Santa Cruz 77 Public 42 62 9215 9431
University of California-Davis 38 Public 39 67 7238 8701
Stony Brook University 92 Public 38 36 3376 6498
University of California-Irvine 44 Public 38 55 6106 8191
University of California-Santa Barbara 41 Public 34 55 8043 8998
University of California-Los Angeles 24 Public 32 58 7649 8572
Pepperdine University 54 Private 31 71 26173 17301
University of Florida 54 Public 29 32 3729 3778
Rutgers University-New Brunswick 68 Public 29 45 5828 11909
Florida State University 97 Public 28 36 2361 6125
The University of Texas at Austin 46 Public 28 46 4112 7220
University of California-Berkeley 21 Public 27 53 8506 8051
Michigan State University 72 Public 26 39 5597 5569
SUNY at Binghamton 89 Public 26 8 6801 8325
University of Massachusetts Amherst 97 Public 25 57 5221 8863
Stevens Institute of Technology 75 Private 25 95 22407 17046
Syracuse University 58 Private 25 71 21412 18422
University of Washington-Seattle Campus 46 Public 24 27 6289 6128
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 77 Public 24 74 2372 9300
Baylor University 77 Private 24 94 13952 20227
Texas A & M University-College Station 65 Public 23 52 5457 4010
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 68 Public 23 59 3808 7929
Emory University 20 Private 23 53 25635 14612
University of Georgia 63 Public 22 20 5308 4177
University of Vermont 92 Public 22 87 11083 6832
University of Missouri-Columbia 97 Public 22 59 5096 11864
University of Miami 44 Private 22 70 23667 21415
Indiana University-Bloomington 83 Public 21 47 7526 3919
Purdue University-Main Campus 65 Public 21 43 5405 6980
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 46 Public 21 40 5572 7432
The University of Alabama 77 Public 21 46 8338 13815
University of Tulsa 83 Private 21 93 16764 16359
Case Western Reserve University 37 Private 21 76 23163 18381
Saint Louis University-Main Campus 92 Private 21 85 16039 23842
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 30 Public 20 46 7946 4101
Ohio State University-Main Campus 56 Public 20 69 6075 11683
Yeshiva University 46 Private 20 80 24035 15935
Marquette University 83 Private 20 100 12335 16728
New York University 32 Private 20 54 15720 25462
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 6 Private 19 61 31369 5672
University of Connecticut 63 Public 19 60 8711 7238
University of Rochester 33 Private 19 89 22455 13644
Clark University 83 Private 19 89 19585 15630
Brandeis University 33 Private 19 59 26075 16277
Colorado School of Mines 77 Public 19 65 5697 16834
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 41 Private 19 96 17933 20360
Fordham University 58 Private 19 91 17518 23593
Harvard University 1 Private 18 66 35758 1297
Columbia University in the City of New York 4 Private 18 52 35422 6277
Miami University-Oxford 89 Public 18 67 5702 15211
University of Southern California 24 Private 18 61 24811 15610
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus 36 Public 17 29 5995 -203
Brown University 15 Private 17 46 31288 5056
University of Iowa 72 Public 17 50 7368 9323
Clemson University 68 Public 17 41 6793 9862
University of Denver 83 Private 17 83 17706 22486
Boston University 51 Private 17 55 23635 23932
Stanford University 6 Private 16 59 32152 5332
Rice University 17 Private 16 57 25523 5476
University of Pennsylvania 8 Private 16 48 32194 6529
Brigham Young University-Provo 68 Private 16 42 3383 8415
University of Colorado Boulder 97 Public 16 37 5860 12181
Boston College 31 Private 16 46 29050 13128
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus 46 Public 16 29 6234 16839
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus 58 Public 16 32 12306 17326
Lehigh University 38 Private 16 51 26036 18433
University of San Diego 92 Private 16 72 18184 20479
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 29 Public 15 47 10851 4778
University of Maryland-College Park 58 Public 15 51 6344 6283
University of Wisconsin-Madison 41 Public 15 40 4370 6363
Cornell University 15 Private 15 51 30529 8244
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 72 Public 15 38 3806 8492
University of Chicago 4 Private 15 60 25753 10228
Southern Methodist University 58 Private 15 77 21687 14040
Northwestern University 12 Private 15 56 27129 15174
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 65 Private 15 98 16608 23047
American University 77 Private 15 71 19776 27022
Auburn University 89 Public 14 62 9830 9574
Georgetown University 21 Private 14 49 28770 10603
Wake Forest University 27 Private 14 47 26156 19841
Texas Christian University 92 Private 14 67 13351 22193
University of Virginia-Main Campus 24 Public 13 27 12823 3543
Vanderbilt University 17 Private 13 59 35087 4124
Yale University 3 Private 13 59 35700 6025
Dartmouth College 10 Private 13 44 34335 7233
Duke University 8 Private 13 47 33403 8049
University of Delaware 75 Public 13 36 6899 9847
Tulane University of Louisiana 51 Private 13 80 24025 20345
Northeastern University 56 Private 13 80 18049 20587
Carnegie Mellon University 23 Private 13 57 21430 23173
University of Notre Dame 17 Private 12 57 27329 11939
Johns Hopkins University 13 Private 12 51 28582 13611
Princeton University 2 Private 11 59 32766 7545
College of William and Mary 33 Public 10 27 11608 5755
Tufts University 28 Private 10 39 27082 11081
California Institute of Technology 10 Private 9 51 28695 310
Washington University in St Louis 14 Private 6 45 23992 -1890