Answer: Six Have need-blind aid

Six schools including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Amherst, and MIT are need blind regardless of a student’s country of origin.

This means that if accepted, students obtain the necessary financial aid. Yet, financial aid is available for international students at a number of other colleges.

Go to www.internationalstudent.com and discover, for example, that Stanford has 885 international UG students, of whom 203 were awarded, on average, $29,000 in financial aid. Aid is also available at USC and Pepperdine, though in much more limited quantities. Specifically, of Pepperdine’s 236 international students 60 were awarded aid, with each receiving, on average, $23,000.

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Answer: International students are often eligible for aid

Most schools with a substantial international student population will award need-based financial aid to some of those students.

Only six schools are both need-blind for admissions and currently meet full demonstrated need for both domestic and international students: Amherst, Dartmouth, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Yale.

Other schools that meet full need for admitted international students include Chicago, Columbia, Trinity (CT), Union (NY), Vassar, and Williams. Notice that these are all private schools; public universities are far less likely to fund international undergraduates.

For general information go to www.nafsa.org and www.edupass.org, and for detailed data school by school, check www.internationalstudent.com.

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Answer: You may be surprised at the amount of aid available

American colleges are not required to offer “need-based” financial aid to international students. In 2010/11 they have, in fact, given $7.7 billion in financial assistance for those students who have chosen to study in the U.S.

The best advice for a student needing aid is to target schools that are actively recruiting international students. Direct school aid is the largest external source of funding for international students (excluding self and family funding.) However, only 23% of international students in the US attend colleges that do cover the majority of their expenses.

It is important for students to apply for scholarships and grants in order to reduce their own expenses.

Have a video session with Suzan Reznick – Independent Educational Consultant – The College Connection