Just because your child is a good student doesn’t mean her good grades will translate into academic merit aid at all colleges, especially the elite ones.  The majority of state universities and the most selective colleges like the Ivy League schools and non-Ivy elites like Swarthmore, Bates, University of Chicago and Stanford, do not offer academic merit aid where “if you have the grade, you get the aid.” It just doesn’t work that way at most elite colleges anymore.  Yes, many smaller, perhaps less-known, but not lesser quality private colleges still offer academic merit aid of substantial value, say between $10,000 and $25,000 per year. That’s because they have to in order to be competitive. The good news is that with the advent of the government rule over colleges being required to provide a net price calculator on their websites, it is a little bit easier to identify if a student is eligible for academic merit aid by just typing in the student’s GPA and ACT or SAT score.  In fact, that’s exactly what kids do. They’ll hit a school’s net price calculator (NPC), go through the first step of the net price calculator to see if they are “estimated” to receive any merit aid money, and if not, most bail out, abandon the calculator and move on. Of course, even if the NPC does show that a student is “eligible” for academic merit aid, it does not mean he or she will receive it for sure.  Many merit awards are competitive. A student may be eligible to compete for an award, often at an on-campus weekend before college starts, or via a committee review of the eligible applicants. Still, there are “merit” awards that are for specific majors, usually limited to a number of students, and have wider criteria than just GPA and test scores. So a school that offers no academic merit aid may still have scholarships available in niche areas, and you should ask about such possibilities.  The big point I am trying to make here is that just because a student has great grades and test scores, it doesn’t mean those “merits” will translate into college financial aid because not all colleges offer academic merit aid, and of those that do, it may be a competitive award, or related to a specific major or limited to only four students out of all that are eligible. In addition, some state universities that do offer small academic awards are often available to students who are state residents, or on a reduced basis for out-of-state students.  Here is another thing to know. Most academic awards are awarded by the admissions office of a college, not the financial aid office. Most often, the admissions department will automatically notify a student if they are eligible for a merit award when they submit their application for admission, because again, these awards are based on the things admissions professionals look at most: grade point average and standardized test scores (ACT and/or SAT). For those of you who have kids who are taking AP courses and have a GPA that is considered “weighted” to reflect these advanced courses, you should be asking colleges if they recalculate GPA for academic merit aid purposes.
Elite private colleges don't award financial aid based on good grades and high SAT or ACT scores. The only way to lower your cost at an elite college like the Ivies, Stanford or Duke, is for your family to show a need for aid based on your finances. If you don't, you'll be expected to write a check for sticker price. However, there are hundreds of excellent private colleges offering $5,000 - $25,000 per year based on good grades and test scores. Public universities are creating more and more Honors Colleges as a way to compete on cost for the top students.