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Here are some of our favorite resources for helping students from low-income households build their college lists.
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Meet Full Need with No LoansThese schools eliminated loans from financial aid packages. Some of the schools eliminated loans for all students, and for others, family income needs to fall at a certain threshold.
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Meet Full Need WITH LoansThese schools guarantee to meet full need when providing financial aid packages, but these aid packages may include loans along with grants, work study, etc.
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State/Regional Tuition DiscountsMany states have programs that allow residents to attend university in another state, without having to pay out-of-state tuition. These are some of the larger programs. There may be other options available in your home state.
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Best For Social MobilityThese schools are ranked on a social mobility index measuring the extent to which a school educates more economically disadvantaged students at lower tuition rates and graduates them into good paying jobs. They use tuition, economic background of student body, graduation score, early career net salaries, and endowment as metrics.
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QuestbridgeThe National College Match is a college admission and scholarship process through which high-achieving, low-income students can be admitted early with full four-year scholarships to QuestBridge college partners. Finalists typically come from households earning less than $65,000 annually for a typical family of four and have minimal assets (not a strict cutoff). Academically, students are typically in the top 5-10% of their high school class.
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Posse FoundationPosse offers four years of tuition and mandatory fees to first-year undergraduate students at partner institutions. Students need to be nominated to the program by a high school or CBO counselor.
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Meet 100% Need for Undocumented/DACA studentsColleges are added to this list each year, so it's a good idea to check in with admissions and financial aid officers at schools that you are interested in (if the information on their website isn't 100% clear).
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Economic DiversityThis helps to give a sense of how many students from low-income households attend a particular school. This table shows the percentage of undergraduates receiving federal Pell Grants for low-income students. Students from households that earn less than $50,000 annually typically qualify for Pell, but the larger award amounts are given to students with family incomes of less than $20,000.
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Best Bang for the BuckWashington Monthly's rankings of schools based on three equally weighted portions: social mobility, research, and community and national service
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ScholarMatcher Honor RollThe ScholarMatch College Honor Roll is a list of 375ish institutions which offer the most supportive environments for students whose families earn less than $50,000 per year. They provide excellent resources, support, and outcomes for low-income and first-generation youth.
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