With some colleges now charging more than $100,000 a year, cost is the single biggest barrier to entry for prospective students, recent studies show.
But families don't often pay the sticker price. In fact, students and their parents spent closer to $35,000, on average, on college costs — including tuition, fees, books, room and board, technology and other expenses — during the 2025-26 academic year, according to Sallie Mae's recent How America Pays for College report.
In most cases, families tap savings and cobble together other resources to cover the tab, including scholarships, second jobs, and federal and private student loans.
Of all possible sources, "merit aid is an underutilized resource," said Robert Franek, editor-in-chief at The Princeton Review. Beyond federal assistance from the U.S. Department of Education and state aid, many schools are increasingly offering students more scholarship funds.
"These are grants, money that students don't have to pay back," Franek said. "That is significant."
Between the 2014-15 and 2024-25 academic years, institutional grant aid rose by 24% to $85.1 billion. During 2024-25, institutional money accounted for about half of all grant aid for undergraduate and graduate students, according to the latest data available from the College Board, which tracks trends in college pricing and student aid.
Financial aid is increasingly influencing students' college decisions. Nearly nine in 10 students — 89% — said they would have chosen a different college for more scholarship aid, according to a new report by education software company Ellucian, based on a survey of more than 2,000 current and prospective college students in the U.S.
To that end, The Princeton Review ranked colleges by how generous their financial aid awards are and how satisfied students are with their packages. The 2027 edition of the company's "Best Colleges" guide is based on data from surveys of 170,000 students during the 2025-26 academic year. Sticker prices are based on the upcoming school year, as of June.
The colleges and universities that ranked highest on The Princeton Review's list successfully met students' growing need for assistance, Franek said.
"There is money out there, great big buckets of money," Franek said.
Washington and Lee University, for example, is the most expensive school on the list with an annual sticker price near six figures. However, the school's average need-based scholarship is nearly $72,000, which brings the total out-of-pocket cost down to around $25,000, according to The Princeton Review.
"Washington and Lee University delivers on its commitment to meet the full financial need of our students without loans, while also being need-blind in admissions and providing full-ride merit-based Johnson Scholarships to 10% of each entering class, thanks to the incredible generosity of our dedicated alumni," said Drewry Sackett, Washington and Lee's spokesperson.
1. Washington and Lee University
Location: Lexington, Virginia
Sticker price: $97,335
Average need-based scholarship: $71,985
Total out-of-pocket cost: $25,350
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
2. Juniata College
Location: Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
Sticker price: $78,700
Average need-based scholarship: $19,336
Total out-of-pocket cost: $59,364
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 90%** **
3. Princeton University
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Sticker price: $91.624
Average need-based scholarship: $80,837
Total out-of-pocket cost: $10,787
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
4. Amherst College
Location: Amherst, Massachusetts
Sticker price: $93,090
Average need-based scholarship: $76,445
Total out-of-pocket cost: $16.645
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
5. Reed College
Location: Portland, Oregon
Sticker price: $91,048
Average need-based scholarship: $57,550
Total out-of-pocket cost: $33,498
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
**6. Vanderbilt University **
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Sticker price: $95,374
Average need-based scholarship: $75,271
Total out-of-pocket cost: $20,103
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
7. Gettysburg College
Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Sticker price: $90,070
Average need-based scholarship: $55,859
Total out-of-pocket cost: $34,211
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 90%
8. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Location: Needham, Massachusetts
Sticker price: $89,686
Average need-based scholarship: $56,968
Total out-of-pocket cost: $32,718
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 99%
9. St. Olaf College
Location: Northfield, Minnesota
Sticker price: $82,200
Average need-based scholarship: $56,959
Total out-of-pocket cost: $25,241
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
10. Lafayette College
Location: Easton, Pennsylvania
Sticker price: $92,382
Average need-based scholarship: $54,046
Total out-of-pocket cost: $38,336
Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%