By Debbie Schwartz, founder of Road2College
Every college quietly publishes a report that shows exactly how much merit aid it gives out, to how many students, and the average award. It’s called the Common Data Set, it’s free and public, and most families never see it.
For anyone chasing merit scholarships, that’s a missed opportunity. When you review a college’s Common Data Set statistics, you can tell, before your student ever applies, whether the school awards merit aid and how likely your student is to receive some.
I’ve walked families through this in two recent Road2College webinars. Here’s how the Common Data Set works, how to find a school’s report, and how to read it for your own student.
How the Common Data Set Works (and Why It Reveals Merit Money)
The Common Data Set is a standardized report every college publishes each year, covering admissions, test scores, and financial aid. Because every school reports the same figures the same way, you can compare merit generosity across colleges using the numbers they publish themselves.
Each report is compiled by a college’s office of institutional research, and the format has been around for more than 20 years. One important thing to understand is timing: each edition reflects a specific academic year. Around this time of year, roughly half of colleges have posted their most recent edition, and the rest follow over the summer. Many schools also keep about a decade of past reports linked on the same page, so you can see how a college’s numbers have shifted over time.
How to Find a College’s Common Data Set
Google the college’s name plus “common data set.” The top result is usually a page on the school’s institutional research site with its most recent report, often labeled by year (such as 2025-26), plus links to past editions.
A couple of notes. Not every college posts the newest edition right away, so if you only find last year’s, that is still useful. And while the report looks dense, you only need a few sections to answer the merit question, which is where we’re headed next.
Where the Merit Aid Numbers Live: Section H
Section H of the Common Data Set holds all the financial aid data. For merit, the number that matters is the average award to first-year students who had no financial need. It tells you whether a college gives merit, and how generous it is.
Start with the aggregate figures at the top of the section, which show how much institutional money the college spends on need-based aid versus non-need-based aid. Institutional means the money comes from the college itself, not the government. At Lafayette College, for example, the report showed roughly $48 million a year in need-based aid against about $14 million in non-need-based aid, a sign that the school leans heavily toward need.
Then find the specific merit line: the number of students with no financial need who received an institutional non-need-based scholarship, and the average amount. At Lafayette, about 172 students with no need received merit, averaging around $24,000. Two things to watch. Athletic scholarships are listed on a separate line, so don’t mistake them for academic merit. And look at what share of no-need students received an award, because a high percentage paired with a solid average marks a genuinely merit-generous school.
How to Read the Merit Aid Numbers for Your Own Student
Merit is the college’s own money, so schools give it strategically. Target colleges that award merit to students without need, pay a solid average, and where your student’s test scores land at or above the 75th percentile. That mix signals a strong merit chance.
Because merit is institutional money, colleges have wide discretion over it. Many use it as a pricing strategy, a Kohl’s-style discount off the sticker price, and as a way to attract stronger students. Higher-scoring students lift a school’s 50th- and 75th-percentile numbers, which feed into national rankings, so some colleges effectively pay to bring those students in.
That is also why the most selective schools rarely offer merit. The Ivies and near-Ivies have far stronger applicants than they need, so they spend their institutional money on need-based aid instead. If your student is aiming at those schools, it’s best not to count on a merit award.
To find merit for your student, match their stats to each school’s 75th percentile, which you’ll also find in the Common Data Set. When your student’s test score sits at or above a college’s 75th percentile, or at least above the 50th, and that college offers merit, they have a real shot at an award. Build a list that includes several schools that fit that description.
One more rule: compare net cost, not just the merit figure. A private college with a high sticker price and a generous merit award can end up costing about the same as a state school with a lower price and little merit. What matters is the net cost after merit is subtracted, so that is what you should compare.
Compare Colleges’ Merit Generosity With Our College Comparison Report
Reading one Common Data Set is manageable. Doing it for a dozen schools and then lining up how generous each one is is a lot harder. Our College Comparison Report puts your list side by side, so you can see at a glance how each college stacks up on merit and more.
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Use R2C Insights to help find merit aid and schools that fit the criteria most important to your student. You’ll not only save precious time, but your student will avoid the heartache of applying to schools they aren’t likely to get into or can’t afford to attend.
Looking for expert help on the road to college? See our 1-to-1 coaching services.
Other Articles You Might Like:
Beyond Grades: What Actually Helped Students Win More Merit Aid and Scholarships
179 Good Small Colleges with High Acceptance Rates (and Generous Merit Aid)
Top 30 Colleges with the Best Merit Scholarships
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