Legal
Last updated: March 18, 2026
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of Merit, located at merit-aid.com. By using Merit, you agree to be bound by these Terms.
Merit is a college financial aid comparison tool. It allows families to upload financial aid award letters and view a normalized, side-by-side comparison of costs across schools. Our goal is to help families understand what they will actually pay — distinguishing grants and scholarships from loans and work-study.
Merit is not a financial advisor, and nothing on this platform constitutes financial, legal, tax, or investment advice.
The information Merit provides — including cost breakdowns, comparisons, and any negotiation insights — is for informational and educational purposes only. It reflects Merit's interpretation of the documents you upload and publicly available data. It is not a substitute for advice from a qualified financial aid counselor, Certified Financial Planner (CFP), or other licensed professional.
Merit does not make recommendations regarding which school you should attend.
Merit does not guarantee any financial, educational, or career outcomes.
Financial aid offers are issued by individual colleges and universities. Merit has no affiliation with any school and does not guarantee the accuracy of any offer letter's contents.
You should independently verify all information with your school's financial aid office before making any enrollment or financial decision. Merit is not responsible for any decisions made based on information displayed on our platform.
Merit is intended for individuals 13 years of age and older. If you are under 18, you represent that a parent or guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf.
When you upload financial aid documents to Merit, you retain ownership of those documents. By uploading, you grant Merit a limited, non-exclusive license to process, analyze, and display the contents of those documents solely to provide you with the service.
You represent that you have the right to upload any document you submit to Merit, and that doing so does not violate any third-party rights.
You agree not to:
Merit uses automated parsing and publicly available reference data to interpret financial aid letters. While we work hard to be accurate, we cannot guarantee that our interpretations are free of errors. Errors in parsing or interpretation may occur. Financial aid terminology and formatting vary significantly across institutions. Always confirm figures with your school directly.
All content, design, and software comprising Merit — excluding documents you upload — is owned by or licensed to Merit and protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You may not copy, reproduce, or distribute any part of Merit without our express written consent.
Your use of Merit is at your own risk. Merit is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind. We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Merit and its founders, employees, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of your use of or inability to use Merit.
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the date at the top of this page. Continued use of Merit after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.
Questions? Email us at carson@merit-aid.com.