Feb 20, 2017 10:01 AM EST By Chris Brandt, UniversityHerald Reporter

One of the biggest challenges of students going to college is the high cost of tuition fees that could lead to student debts which could become a huge financial burden later on. Fortunately, there are colleges and universities that have great financial aid programs making college much more affordable. Here are the top five universities for financial aid.

Princeton University

Tuition at Princeton costs at $45,320 and if you add to that the housing and other expenses and a student will be spending $63,690 in just one year. However, the university meets 100 percent of a student's need-based financial aid. In fact, only 18 percent of the undergraduates have student loans, which are at an average of $8,908. Even if students cannot avail of the financial aid, Princeton has a number of scholarships and grand package which is around $48,000 making the tuition much lower than those in most state schools.

California Institute of Technology

The total amount of expenses a student will spend when accepted at California Institute of Technology is around $63,000 a year. However, the school has one of the biggest endowments in America which totals to $2.09 billion, which means there are also lots of scholarships available. When it comes to their need-based scholarship, Caltech offers up to $41,901 in aid. The student loan expectation when a student graduates is around $5,500 while those who take student loans have an average balance of around $18,200 upon graduation.

Stanford University

Just like the Princeton and Caltech, the expected expenses of students who get accepted to Stanford is around $62,451 a year. However, the university does not require any parental contribution from those parents who earn less than $65,000 a year while those whose parents have an income of less than $125,000 per annum, all the tuition fee expenses are covered by the university. Because of this, only 22 percent of the students have to loan some money which totals to $21,238 when they graduate.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Although tuition fee at MIT is a little lower than the above universities, the average cost per year including apartment, food, and other miscellaneous expenses totals to $61,000. However, 62 percent of students in the undergraduate programs receive a need-based financial aid with an average amount of $40,000. On the other hand, those who take student loans usually graduate with a total of around $25,000 in loans.

Harvey Mudd College

The total cost to enter this private liberal arts college in Claremont, California is around $69,717 per year. However, the college has numerous aids available for its students with its need-based financial aid totaling to $39,799. The percentage of those who qualify for such aids are 82 percent while 40 percent are able to secure a merits-based aid. Those who take student loans have an average of $25,400 when they graduate. It might look high but students in other private colleges have a reported $32,000 in student loans.

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