Out of curiosity to see how the rankings would change, we took our list of 100 most expensive colleges and found the average need-based grant given at each school as listed on the College Board website.
The average need-based grant given by each school is listed below, from largest to smallest. As expected, schools that are known to provide great financial assistance (Harvard, Yale, etc.) are listed toward the top, with Harvard taking the top spot.
Next, we will be applying this grant data to the total cost of each school in an effort to find the net price roughly paid for need-based students. We will then re-rank this new list and highlight any major changes between the two rankings (sticker price vs. net price).
According to the College Board:
For the 2011-2012 school year, full-time undergraduates received an estimated average of about $5,750 in grant aid from all sources and federal tax benefits at public four-year institutions. The average grant aid given at private nonprofit four-year institutions was $15,530.
Highest Average Need-Based Grant
| College | Avg. Grant | Avg. % of need met | |
| 1. | Harvard College | $41,341 | 100% |
| 2. | Williams College | $40,146 | 100% |
| 3. | Amherst College | $39,962 | 100% |
| 4. | Columbia University | $38,544 | 100% |
| 5. | Yale University | $38,090 | 100% |
| 6. | Vassar College | $37,892 | 100% |
| 7. | Stanford University | $37,804 | 100% |
| 8. | Trinity College (CT) | $37,288 | 100% |
| 9. | Colgate University | $37,204 | 100% |
| 10. | Vanderbilt University | $37,174 | 100% |
| 11. | Dartmouth College | $36,791 | 100% |
| 12. | Barnard College | $36,670 | 100% |
| 13. | Wellesley College | $36,508 | 100% |
| 14. | MIT | $36,084 | 100% |
| 15. | Pomona College | $36,005 | 100% |
| 16. | University of Chicago | $35,540 | 100% |
| 17. | Washington and Lee University | $35,470 | 100% |
| 18. | Duke University | $35,394 | 100% |
| 19. | Pitzer College | $35,378 | 100% |
| 20. | Swarthmore College | $35,279 | 100% |
| 21. | Bowdoin College | $35,007 | 100% |
| 22. | Reed College | $34,939 | 100% |
| 23. | Wesleyan University | $34,728 | 100% |
| 24. | Hamilton College | $34,682 | 100% |
| 25. | Haverford College | $34,673 | 100% |
| 26. | Brown University | $34,611 | 100% |
| 27. | Colby College | $34,449 | 100% |
| 28. | Bates College | $33,878 | 100% |
| 29. | Cornell University | $33,653 | 100% |
| 30. | University of Richmond | $33,515 | 100% |
| 31. | Penn | $33,460 | 100% |
| 32. | Scripps College | $33,362 | 100% |
| 33. | Bard College | $33,329 | 91% |
| 34. | Middlebury College | $32,934 | 100% |
| 35. | Mount Holyoke College | $32,903 | 100% |
| 36. | Skidmore College | $32,822 | 100% |
| 37. | Smith College | $32,713 | 100% |
| 38. | Emory University | $32,425 | 100% |
| 39. | Connecticut College | $32,366 | 100% |
| 40. | Pepperdine University | $31,826 | 79% |
| 41. | Franklin & Marshall College | $31,296 | 100% |
| 42. | Hampshire College | $31,140 | 91% |
| 43. | Bennington College | $31,113 | 81% |
| 44. | Sarah Lawrence College | $31,012 | 91% |
| 45. | Union College (NY) | $30,943 | 100% |
| 46. | Johns Hopkins University | $30,791 | 99% |
| 47. | Brandeis University | $30,543 | 94% |
| 48. | University of Rochester | $30,430 | 100% |
| 49. | Kenyon College | $30,256 | 98% |
| 50. | Carleton College | $30,179 | 100% |
| 51. | Tufts University | $30,074 | 100% |
| 52. | Macalester College | $30,021 | 100% |
| 53. | Lehigh University | $29,873 | 96% |
| 54. | Bryn Mawr College | $29,807 | 100% |
| 55. | Dickinson College | $29,628 | 99% |
| 56. | College of the Holy Cross | $29,590 | 100% |
| 57. | Ursinus College | $29,579 | 83% |
| 58. | St. Lawrence University | $29,506 | 91% |
| 59. | Harvey Mudd College | $29,370 | 100% |
| 60. | Wake Forest University | $29,236 | 100% |
| 61. | Wheaton College (MA) | $29,205 | 96% |
| 62. | University of Notre Dame | $28,953 | 99% |
| 63. | Washington University in St. Louis | $28,814 | 100% |
| 64. | The George Washington University | $28,704 | 95% |
| 65. | Claremont McKenna College | $28,627 | 100% |
| 66. | Lafayette College | $28,606 | 97% |
| 67. | Babson College | $28,454 | 92% |
| 68. | Gettysburg College | $28,444 | 100% |
| 69. | Occidental College | $28,046 | 100% |
| 70. | Boston College | $27,621 | 100% |
| 71. | Oberlin College | $27,516 | 100% |
| 72. | Hobart and William Smith College | $27,412 | 97% |
| 73. | Georgetown University | $26,966 | 100% |
| 74. | Northwestern University | $26,817 | 100% |
| 75. | Chapman University | $26,497 | 100% |
| 76. | St. John's College | $26,388 | 98% |
| 77. | University of Southern California | $25,434 | 100% |
| 78. | Drew University | $24,969 | 77% |
| 79. | Villanova University | $24,921 | 80% |
| 80. | Carnegie Mellon University | $24,680 | 82% |
| 81. | University of Miami | $24,521 | 83% |
| 82. | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | $24,428 | 87% |
| 83. | Tulane University | $23,690 | 92% |
| 84. | Bucknell University | $23,500 | 95% |
| 85. | Boston University | $23,413 | 90% |
| 86. | Fairfield University | $22,916 | 88% |
| 87. | The New School | $22,350 | 78% |
| 88. | Dominican University of California | $22,100 | 64% |
| 89. | New York University | $21,348 | 69% |
| 90. | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | $20,776 | 74% |
| 91. | Providence College | $20,138 | 87% |
| 92. | Southern Methodist University | $20,003 | 90% |
| 93. | Stevens Institute of Technology | $20,000 | N/A |
| 94. | Olin College of Engineering | $19,560 | 100% |
| 95. | Fordham University - Lincoln Center | $19,234 | 78% |
| 95. | Fordham University - Rose Hill | $19,234 | 78% |
| 97. | Bard College at Simon's Rock | $18,915 | 65% |
| 98. | Loyola University Maryland | $17,890 | 100% |
| 99. | American University | $15,448 | 85% |
| 100. | Drexel University | $14,844 | 61% |