Just because your child is a good student doesn’t mean her good grades will translate into college aid. This kind of financial aid is called academic merit aid, and few colleges offer it based just on grades and test scores alone. I cannot tell you how many times after a presentation to families I’ve heard parents saying that their child should be able to get a “full-ride” at this college or that university.
No, they probably will not get a full-ride based on grades, and they may not get ANY aid based on grades at a lot of colleges, especially state universities. That’s because the majority of state universities and the most selective colleges out there, including the Ivy League schools, the Wesleyans, Bates, Dukes, Swarthmores and Stanfords of the college admissions elite, do not offer academic merit aid; where if you have the grade, you get the aid. It just doesn’t work that way at most schools anymore.