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Recently Rice University made a huge announcement about their new financial aid program. Let me explain what a full tuition scholarship means to Rice University and how to qualify.

This is what they said in their announcement:

The Rice Investment will provide extraordinary opportunity for extraordinary students to seek a top-tier college education at a time when many families are struggling to make ends meet. Going forward, low- and middle-income families with typical assets will receive scholarships and grants as outlined below:

The Rice Investment Grant varies based on the family income range's listed below:

$65,000 and below
Full Tuition, Fees, Room and Board 

$65,001 - $130,000 
Full Tuition 

$130,001 - $200,000 
Half Tuition

* https://financialaid.rice.edu/thericeinvestment

What they didn't tell you is that when they said "top-tier college", they aren't kidding. Like Harvard or Yale, Rice is extremely hard to get into, with an acceptance rate of only 16%. Let me put that another way. About 84% of wildly-smart kids get rejected. Even an applicant has everything Rice could ever possibly ask for, they still reject more people than they accept.

When you consider any college, look first to see if it's a Reach, Fit, or Safety University. 

Here are the typical scores applicants bring to Rice University. 

SAT scores
Reading and Writing 690-770, Math 720-800

ACT scores: 32-35

If you can get in to Rice, and are low income, this may be an excellent value. However, the difficulty is getting IN to Rice University. 

I encourage students to apply for at least 4-8 colleges, that are a mix of reach, fit, and safety universities. Include public universities, which often have a lower sticker price but rarely have huge scholarships. Include private universities, with have a jaw-dropping sticker price, but often give big scholarships. Don't exclude a college because it's a private university. You can confidently include those in your combination of reach, fit, and safety schools.

Other colleges with full tuition scholarships here.
Full Tuition Scholarships for Homeschool Students

Learn more about scholarships in this article.
How Homeschoolers Earn Scholarships

Or take my free class to learn even more!
Super Scholarships for Humble Homeschoolers

Do you know of other schools that over great scholarships like this? Please share!

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