50-50 Highlights: 99 Overlooked Colleges for National Merit Scholarships

(Updated 2021) The National Merit Scholarship Program seems like a great opportunity for test savvy high school students and their families to make a substantial dent in college costs. Well, it really all depends. Much to the surprise of many families, being a National Merit Finalist doesn’t mean a full-ride scholarship to the college of your choice.

Different Types of National Merit Scholarships

There are three types of National Merit Scholarships. There is the one-time $2,500 awarded by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation to approximately 7,600 scholars. Corporations sponsor another 1,000 scholarships, mainly for children of employees but also for students living in certain areas or pursuing specific majors. These may or may not be renewable and range in value from $500 to $10,000.

The third type of scholarship is generally the most valuable–those sponsored by colleges. These scholarships may be only one time awards of only $2,500. However, many of them are renewable awards for much more and the most valuable offer the coveted “free ride.” (Looking for free ride scholarships, try here. I get a share of any purchases.)

Most Colleges Don’t Provide National Merit Scholarships

The problem is that these schools are generally not the same schools everyone wants to attend. In fact, very few of the most competitive colleges and universities sponsor National Merit Scholarships. That doesn’t mean these schools don’t have National Merit Scholars. In 2019, Stanford enrolled 124, Harvard 207, and MIT 134. None of these students received National Merit Scholarships to attend these schools. These schools just don’t have to offer money as an incentive to attend.

And for those competitive colleges that do such as the University of Chicago, Carleton College, and Vanderbilt University, the amounts tend to be small relative to the actual cost of attendance.

Colleges with Incentives to Provide National Merit Scholarships

If you want to get the most out of being a National Merit Scholar, target a 50-50 school. These are schools that accept at least 50% of students and have at least a 50% graduation rate. Out of over 160 schools sponsoring National Merit Scholarships, 99 of them are 50-50 schools.

This isn’t surprising since many of these colleges are interested in developing a national reputation. Colleges haven’t been shy about publicizing the number of National Merit Scholars attending their institutions. They are also more likely to provide scholarships that significantly reduce tuition costs while being renewable. Some colleges include yearly stipends or funds for study abroad programs.

The University of Oklahoma waives 100% of tuition for out-of-state National Merit Scholars for five years. Students can also use the waiver toward any graduate or professional program if any funds remain after completing their undergraduate degrees.

If you’re willing to attend a less prestigious college, being a National Merit Scholar could result in an actual “free ride” to college.

The table below lists 50-50 colleges for National Merit Scholars. All expect to sponsor National Merit Scholarships this past year.

 

50-50 Colleges for National Merit Scholars

Name	Type	State	Full-time Under-graduate	% Freshman Receiving Institutional Grants (18-19)	Avg Net Price 2018-2019
Auburn University	Public	AL	22,626	61	$23,562
Samford University	Private	AL	3,519	99	$30,695
The University of Alabama	Public	AL	29,188	56	$20,623
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Public	AL	10,377	78	$17,068
Arizona State University-Tempe	Public	AZ	41,349	94	$14,081
University of Arizona	Public	AZ	28,993	87	$16,580
Hendrix College	Private	AR	1,098	100	$20,859
Ouachita Baptist University	Private	AR	1,502	98	$19,962
University of Arkansas	Public	AR	20,492	39	$16,263
Santa Clara University	Private	CA	5,580	63	$42,114
Colorado State University-Fort Collins	Public	CO	22,179	56	$16,793
New College of Florida	Public	FL	702	99	$11,028
University of Idaho	Public	ID	6,762	90	$15,017
Bradley University	Private	IL	4,497	100	$26,791
Illinois Wesleyan University	Private	IL	1,613	99	$28,912
Loyola University Chicago	Private	IL	11,628	98	$36,388
Wheaton College	Private	IL	2,323	87	$28,795
Butler University	Private	IN	4,498	93	$39,923
DePauw University	Private	IN	1,952	99	$29,557
Goshen College	Private	IN	752	100	$19,772
Indiana University-Bloomington	Public	IN	32,091	71	$13,036
Purdue University-Main Campus	Public	IN	32,520	43	$12,684
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	Private	IN	1,980	99	$45,356
University of Evansville	Private	IN	1,827	100	$21,978
Valparaiso University	Private	IN	2,932	99	$21,824
Drake University	Private	IA	2,836	100	$30,265
Iowa State University	Public	IA	26,596	79	$15,195
Luther College	Private	IA	1,931	100	$23,805
University of Iowa	Public	IA	21,134	57	$17,008
Kansas State University	Public	KS	15,489	77	$18,103
University of Kansas	Public	KS	17,307	73	$19,195
Centre College	Private	KY	1,411	100	$24,226
University of Kentucky	Public	KY	20,679	77	$18,958
University of Louisville	Public	KY	11,578	80	$17,490
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	Public	LA	22,727	75	$18,143
Louisiana Tech University	Public	LA	8,128	81	$12,261
University of Maine	Public	ME	8,016	99	$18,002
Gordon College	Private	MA	1,447	96	$29,047
Calvin College	Private	MI	3,224	100	$27,952
Hope College	Private	MI	2,903	95	$29,248
Kalamazoo College	Private	MI	1,273	98	$26,480
Michigan State University	Public	MI	35,650	48	$16,579
Michigan Technological University	Public	MI	5,405	93	$17,814
Bethel University	Private	MN	2,323	100	$26,468
Gustavus Adolphus College	Private	MN	2,215	99	$21,707
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	Public	MN	29,890	59	$17,279
University of St Thomas	Private	MN	6,164	95	$29,645
Mississippi State University	Public	MS	17,101	86	$16,471
University of Mississippi	Public	MS	15,950	63	$14,672
Missouri University of Science and Technology	Public	MO	5,680	81	$13,954
Saint Louis University	Private	MO	6,666	97	$31,098
Truman State University	Public	MO	4,248	99	$12,912
University of Missouri-Columbia	Public	MO	20,782	77	$15,850
Montana State University	Public	MT	12,398	71	$16,746
Creighton University	Private	NE	4,338	99	$32,145
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	Public	NE	19,045	82	$17,093
University of Nevada-Reno	Public	NV	14,702	50	$16,253
Rutgers University-New Brunswick	Public	NJ	34,350	40	$16,873
Ithaca College	Private	NY	5,735	95	$34,942
North Dakota State University-Main Campus	Public	ND	9,640	44	$16,330
University of North Dakota	Public	ND	7,622	66	$15,654
Miami University-Oxford	Public	OH	16,729	70	$22,989
Ohio University-Main Campus	Public	OH	16,162	81	$22,521
The College of Wooster	Private	OH	1,942	99	$28,209
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	Public	OH	23,836	56	$19,219
University of Dayton	Private	OH	8,059	95	$33,372
Oklahoma State University	Public	OK	17,235	80	$15,325
University of Oklahoma	Public	OK	18,938	86	$21,804
Lewis & Clark College	Private	OR	1,896	94	$36,026
Oregon State University	Public	OR	18,635	72	$19,273
University of Oregon	Public	OR	17,377	59	$16,080
Willamette University	Private	OR	1,559	100	$36,223
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	Public	PA	66,206	43	$24,724
University of Pittsburgh	Public	PA	18,474	47	$22,600
Clemson University	Public	SC	19,387	75	$21,482
College of Charleston	Public	SC	8,736	55	$19,764
Furman	Private	SC	2,607	91	$35,621
University of South Carolina-Columbia	Public	SC	26,402	68	$21,787
Wofford College	Private	SC	1,703	95	$28,033
Belmont University	Private	TN	6,547	88	$36,976
Tennessee Technological University	Public	TN	7,972	48	$16,634
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	Public	TN	22,126	54	$21,024
Southwestern University	Private	TX	1,496	100	$27,757
Texas A & M University	Public	TX	47,874	55	$19,237
Texas Tech University	Public	TX	27,949	52	$16,463
The University of Texas at Dallas	Public	TX	17,847	67	$10,455
University of Houston	Public	TX	28,176	60	$13,212
University of North Texas	Public	TX	26,049	50	$14,020
University of Utah	Public	UT	18,609	70	$13,739
Virginia Commonwealth University	Public	VA	19,868	60	$20,968
University of Puget Sound	Private	WA	2,276	99	$39,011
Washington State University	Public	WA	23,195	74	$18,002
Western Washington University	Public	WA	13,868	71	$17,728
Whitman College	Private	WA	1,532	86	$41,822
West Virginia University	Public	WV	19,399	76	$12,743
Lawrence University	Private	WI	1,399	100	$26,162
Marquette University	Private	WI	8,174	100	$34,120
University of Wisconsin-Madison	Public	WI	30,131	34	$16,103
University of Wyoming	Public	WY	8,336	72	$12,880