The 25 US colleges that give the most financial aid\, ranked

The average cost of tuition and room and board at a four-year public college is $20,770; at a four-year private institution, that number jumps to $26,950, according to the College Board's "Trends in College Pricing 2017" report.

That's why it's important to pick a college that offers a good financial aid package.

Student Loan Hero recently rounded up the top US colleges that give the most financial aid to students in need using data from Peterson's. It looked at 1,244 US colleges.

It found that an average of $20,494 is offered in financial aid to students, but the colleges we highlight below - the top 25 from Student Loan Hero's ranking - offer at least twice that. In most cases, the average financial aid package at each of these schools is just short of the total cost of tuition.

Wellesley College offers an average financial aid package of $47,527 - and that ranks lowest on this list, with the numbers only going up from there.

Below, see the top 25 colleges for financial aid.