As people start the college search process, often finances is top of mind. They just know that they might not be able to afford our published price. And so for families like that, we have a robust program of need-based financial aid at Macalester. Two out of three of our students are receiving need-based financial aid. And we're committed to creating a financial aid package that covers 100% of demonstrated need for every student we have.
So if you're wondering what your financial aid might look like, at Macalester, we offer a tool called My intuition. And you can spend about five minutes answering seven questions anonymously, put in some ballpark estimates about your family, and you'll get a quick estimate of what your experience at Macalester would look like. So the good news is that we're one of a few selective liberal arts colleges that has a commitment to meeting 100% of demonstrated need, and a large merit scholarship program. About half of Macalester students receive a merit scholarship, and those scholarships can range up to about 1/3 of our comprehensive fee.
Our merit scholarships are generally based on the academic preparedness of a student. So all the things that go into the admission application, the classes you've taken, the grades you've received in those classes, recommendations from teachers. Everything that's in the admission application is also part of that merit scholarship application. We know that coming to the Financial Aid Office is not everyone's first choice of what to do with their time. So we try to be really friendly. We know that families don't know exactly how to say things. We're ready to help them through the process.
