428 colleges that award merit money on GPA and test scores
Merit aid is money a college gives you for your record rather than your finances. Most of it at public universities is automatic: you apply for admission, and if your GPA or test score clears a published line, the award arrives with the acceptance letter. No extra essay, no extra deadline.
That makes it worth checking before you build a list, because the same student can be full-pay at one school and half-price at another with similar admissions standards. The reports below are the cuts families ask for most; each school links through to its full award table.
Amounts are what each school publishes for incoming first-year students. Renewal usually depends on keeping a minimum GPA.
In-state tuition is usually the cheaper starting point, so it is worth seeing what your own state offers before you widen the search.
An award is worth comparing against what students at that school actually pay after need-based aid, which is often the larger number.