Without financial aid, the price tag at some four-year colleges and universities — after factoring in tuition, fees, room and board, books, transportation, and other expenses — is now nearing $100,000 a year.
But even though college is getting more expensive, students and their parents rarely pay the full amount.
Aside from their income and savings, most families rely on federal aid, which may include loans, work-study and grants, to help bridge the “affordability gap,” according to Sameer Gadkaree, president of The Institute for College Access and Success, a nonprofit organization that promotes college affordability.
Still, “we have created this situation where students can’t just work their way through college without taking on debt,” he said. “It’s simply, the math doesn’t work.”
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Problems with the new federal student aid application form have heightened families’ concerns and early signs show that FAFSA issues could continue into the upcoming application season. Already, the U.S. Department of Education recently announced a delayed start in December.
With cost the No. 1 college concern among families, issues with the FAFSA “will continue to affect students and their parents,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor in chief.
That’s where financial assistance from a college can be key.
To that end, The Princeton Review ranked colleges by how much financial aid is awarded and how satisfied students are with their packages. The 2025 edition of the company’s college guide is based on data from surveys of 168,000 students in the 2023-24 school year.
The schools that ranked the highest not only deliver on assistance, but also on calming concerns about college affordability, Franek said: “These colleges are saying, ‘You do not have to mortgage your future to pay for school — we are meeting you where you are.'”
Among some of the schools near the top of The Princeton Review’s list, the average scholarship grant awarded in 2023-24 to students with need was more than $70,000. Of all the financial aid opportunities the FAFSA opens up, grants are the most desirable kind of assistance because they typically do not need to be repaid.
“The takeaway is that they are noting the difficulty that students are having with financial aid and the general fear around scholarship dollars and literally directing financial aid to defuse that worry and that stress” Franek said.
Top 10 colleges for financial aid
1. Skidmore College
Location: Saratoga Springs, New York
Sticker price: $85,230
Average need-based scholarship: $53,700
Total out-of-pocket cost: $31,530
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
2. Gettysburg College
Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Sticker price: $82,750
Average need-based scholarship: $54,032
Total out-of-pocket cost: $28,718
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 90%
3. Washington University
Location: St. Louis
Sticker price: $87,644
Average need-based scholarship: $65,777
Total out-of-pocket cost: $21,867
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
4. Olin College of Engineering
Location: Needham, Massachusetts
Sticker price: $86,993
Average need-based scholarship: $56,825
Total out-of-pocket cost: $30,168
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
5. Wabash College
Location: Crawfordsville, Indiana
Sticker price: $65,200
Average need-based scholarship: $39,846
Total out-of-pocket cost: $25,354
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 94%
6. College of the Atlantic
Location: Bar Harbor, Maine
Sticker price: $58,401
Average need-based scholarship: $39,055
Total out-of-pocket cost: $19,346
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 96%
7. Thomas Aquinas College
Location: Santa Paula, California
Sticker price: $47,465
Average need-based scholarship: $18,709
Total out-of-pocket cost: $28,756
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
8. Reed College
Location: Portland, Oregon
Sticker price: $87,010
Average need-based scholarship: $47,265
Total out-of-pocket cost: $39,745
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
9. Williams College
Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Sticker price: $85,820
Average need-based scholarship: $70,764
Total out-of-pocket cost: $15,056
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
10. Princeton University
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Sticker price: $82,650
Average need-based scholarship: $70,246
Total out-of-pocket cost: $12,404
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%